On Still Water
by WhisperedSilvers
Summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura
1. taste of war

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **note: uhm, I had like three stories stuck in my head and this is the one that came out first?**

 **note2: non-mass — fixed timeline.**

 **note3: to be or not to be m?**

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 **the taste of war**

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It smells like amber. Burning amber, darkening into a charred piece of flint and smoky like black plumes. The taste of fire — if anything — is always increasingly difficult to explain, it's sometimes too much, overwhelming sparks of heat and the nearly heart-stopping stutters of dry air. It's like choking on something too great or too little to swallow.

"You okay?" Ino asked, her blue eyes tinged with something a little more than knowing, almost as if she were waiting for a specific answer.

Sakura blinked, clearing her throat she replied, "Yeah."

It was nearing five in the afternoon, with the sun settling gold over her wooden desk, the wind curling over her like a living thing, but disappearing altogether when she touched her shoulder self-consciously. Nine to fives were a blessing in disguise, it was slow in the hospital — surprisingly, but Kakashi had explained prior to his mission in Tea that things were _always_ slow during peacetime.

But she had gotten a taste of war during the Chunin exam. Orochimaru's defection, the death of the third Hokage and the faded memories of the Forest of Death were enough to have her tighten her grip on training, because she just didn't really _understand._ Even at twenty, as head medic of the hospital, her instincts – perhaps her paranoia – there was always something.

 _Something._

Intuition, she and Tsunade both believed, was an important skill to have as a shinobi. While they, mere humans could not predict the future – no matter what forbidden jutsu Sasuke _waved_ in her face – there was _something_. Maybe it was because she was a _child_ , maybe because she saw things she wasn't meant to see or maybe, because she finally _grew up_ — there was never any real closure.

She may have been in peacetime now, but it was only a matter of time before something happens.

"Actually," Sakura started, she closed her manila folder and stood up, "I'm kind of hungry. Wanna grab some dinner?"

Ino flickered her eyes over to the clock, she wrinkled her nose, "It's kind of early."

"We can take our time then," Sakura curled her lips up, "We can go to that new dumpling shop around the corner."

Blue eyes glittered, "Mimi's? _Finally_ , I've been dying to go to that place!"

"Of course, pig."

* * *

Unfortunately, dinner never came. Ino had been called to T&I and Sakura took her time walking to Ichiraku.

"—don't know what you're talking about! Wind chakra is _totally_ better than _fire_ ," Naruto's voice sounded congested, probably stuffed with noodles and whatever pork he managed to shove into his mouth, "It's practically rare and the most—"

"You know," Sakura started, she pushed the banner over her head and walked towards the counter, "I can hear you five shops down right?"

Sasuke snorted.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled with teeth, "I thought you were in the hospital?"

"Eh, it's pretty slow since the chunin exams," Sakura wrinkled her nose, she supposed she should be grateful, fewer injuries means a higher mortality rate for shinobi, but it was almost _stagnant_ if she thought about it. Did it make her a bad person to think of things like this? She pressed her lips together and ordered the festive gyoza.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah," she said.

Sasuke stared at her.

Their dynamic as a team was always a power-play between, who had a better, much more deadly jutsu or who was faster or whose aim was more accurate, but amongst themselves, it was always a matter of _how much more._ It was harder for her more than ever, now that they were competing for ANBU exams, despite her being a medic – she was beginning to resent the title – she didn't possess any skills noteworthy enough to be even _considered_ ANBU material.

Sakura's family was not from a _clan_ nor did she have any special bloodline ability or anything for that matter. Her parents are first generation shinobi, though they didn't get very far in their career, they were content with being just that—they didn't, _couldn't_ understand their daughter's desire for more.

They _couldn't_.

Chakra control, monstrous strength, and her medical ninjutsu were enough to get her a Jounin position, but it wasn't enough to cut it for ANBU. Despite the lack of medics, that were in the ranks, they wouldn't accept candidates that were anything less than ideal to join their ranks. Medical ninja in the force and medical ninja in ANBU had a different set of protocol, or so she heard.

Sakura's lips thinned as she chomped on her last piece of gyoza.

"—ra-chan. Are you listening?" Naruto's voice was kind of loud, but it was the poke of his chopsticks against her shoulder bone that knocked her out of her stupor.

"What?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Kakashi said that we should meet for training tomorrow."

She raised a brow, "What do you mean by _we_?"

The blonde frowned, "Like, all of us?"

Sakura had grown resentful over the years, sure it was dark and creeping like shadows over the mountains, but it was tight and constrained in the deepest parts of her, she relaxed her spine and tried to distract herself, "Isn't he on a mission?"

"He should be back by tonight," Naruto said, leaning back into the stool he explained, "He said it was a simple recon mission. Shouldn't take too long."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed.

 _Recon?_

Tsunade hadn't told her about any chatter that she picked up or perhaps she was just being paranoid, but recon missions – according to the objective scrolls in the office – were typically created to keep new information in and remove the remaining threat.

But they were in _peacetime._

"Same place, then?"

Sasuke nodded.

Just as Sakura finished her tea, an explosion reverberated throughout the village—she stiffened and then the three of them _moved_. Leaping onto the roof, the three of them watched rubble and dust erupt from the Hokage mountain.

"Are they _insane_?" Naruto hissed, half in outrage and the other half in disbelief, "Who bombs the Hokage mountain?"

Sasuke's eyes bled red, he stated, "These aren't Leaf shinobi—they're masking their presence with a genjutsu. It's some type of white cloak."

"Their presence? Not their chakra?"

Sasuke nodded.

"We have to wait for orders," Sakura reminded them, as much as her fingers itched to run over, she knew her top priority was the hospital, "Masking your presence is a forbidden technique. Remember that mission we had in Rain?"

Naruto snapped her gaze towards her, "Sakura-chan we _need_ to—"

"Naruto," Sakura tried to reason with him, but her voice was harsh, "If you want to apply for ANBU you have to follow protocol and that means letting ANBU handle it until we get further instructions."

Sasuke's lips thinned as Naruto's chakra fluctuated.

With Tsunade's face sliding off the mountain, onto the forest floor, the earth shaking beneath her feet and shinobi of all ages appearing on the rooftops beside her, her mouth moved before her brain could catch up, "This was an act of war."

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 **footnote: my tumblr is located in my bio –**

 **footnote2: um srsly idk where I'm going with this, but I need some Shisui in my life.**

 **footnote3: please leave a review on your way out.**


	2. of shogi pieces

**on still water**

 **by whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

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 **of shogi pieces**

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Sakura couldn't decide if she was lucky or unlucky.

It was cold in the Hokage's office. Humidity clawing at the windows, smog thick in the air and only the brisk blast of air from the circulation system hummed inside the walls of the tower, but even the coldness of the air could not calm the hot, hum of chakra that filtered throughout the space.

According to the Tsunade, there were no reports of casualties or injuries, she placed her chin over interlocked fingers and spoke, "I suppose we are all kinds of fortunate. We have safely secured the perimeter of the village, Intelligence tells me that this was a rogue group, unknown to Konoha."

"A terror attack?" Gemna inquired with a senbon stuck between the crook of his teeth.

"So it seems," The Hokage glanced to the left and asked, "What do you think, Nara?"

Shikamaru inhaled quietly, the furrow in his brow never left and he replied somewhat on edge, "It looks like the same group from the reports."

Sakura turned to look at her master and she frowned, "What group, shishou?"

Tsunade sighed, her left hand rummaged into a nearby cabinet underneath her desk, she pulled out a series of scrolls, red dye and black rimmed. Unsealing one, she tossed the scroll to her apprentice and explained, "I have been receiving reports of an unknown group terrorizing villages—I'm sure you heard of the kidnapping incident in Lightning not too long ago," she made a note to look before continuing, "They seem to hail from the same group."

"The cloaks are different colors," Sakura stated as her eyes scanned the contents of the scroll, "Different members then?"

"It could also be a decoy," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Or to throw us off altogether," She pursed her lips.

Tsunade nodded, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Generally speaking, recon missions were never exactly concrete without some type of evidence—despite the technology boom in the last few years (in Iron mostly), most of the records are from the word of mouth.

"The group was able to mask their presence with genjutsu," Sasuke interjected pridefully, "But not their chakra."

The Hokage stared at him, "Explain."

"It's hard to explain," Naruto tried, he scratched the back of his neck, "It's like you have your chakra and then you have your presence. You can always mask your chakra so it seems like you're not there, but you still have your presence so you're still living."

Sakura tilted her head, she understood Naruto's logic even though it's sort of incomplete, she tried to refine it a little and added in her two cents, "It's kind of like a civilian. Civilians don't have chakra, but you can still feel their presence. This group can erase their presence and leave behind a chakra signature—it's kind of like the opposite of what a civilian is."

"The sharingan disrupted the genjutsu, but I wasn't able to identify any of the attackers due to my location," Sasuke pressed his lips together and then finished, "We saw something like this in Rain a while ago."

Tsunade's eyes sharpened.

"They're leaving a chakra trail on purpose," Shikamaru concluded.

"They _want_ you to track them," Sakura's eyebrows rose with disbelief, "But isn't that reckless?"

Tsunade stared at her apprentice almost as if she were agreeing, but she didn't want to put her words to power just yet, so she asked instead, "What do you think, Uchiha?"

Sasuke looked mildly surprised that she was asking him, he opened his mouth and was immediately cut off, "I—"

"Not you," The Hokage huffed, she turned her head to the ANBU to her left side, "The other one," she motioned, "At ease."

Itachi – much to Sasuke's annoyance – spoke first after unmasking, "This group wants to claim responsibility. They want Konoha to legitimize them as a threat."

"That is out of question," She replied immediately and then she scowled. In the back of her mind, she realized that this was all political. Recognizing whatever this group was, would not only deem them worthy enough to be a _threat_ – worthy enough for their attention – but worthy enough to be deemed a threat to the _world._

It wasn't a power play, like Sakura had originally thought. Villages often receive demands like these from various rogue groups, outcasts, exiles and sometimes even cult groups. When countries ignore such factions, they often disappear, and are not to be heard from again, but then again – she glanced out the window to half a demolished mountain – no group had _this_ type of power.

There was a knock at the door.

It was Kakashi, "Permission to enter?"

"Granted," Tsunade answered, once the masked-shinobi entered the room, she motioned for the elder Uchiha to seal off the room, Kakashi's mission was sensitive enough, "Report."

Kakashi whirled his head around, a faint amusement melded into his tone, "Must be important if everyone is here."

"Hatake," Tsunade's voice was silver.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi snapped his attention to the Hokage immediately, "I've spoken to my contact. They are an unknown organization, they believe to have roughly ten members. Each member hails from a different village. Aside from the obvious assassinations, theft, and robbery — there was nothing _important_ enough to be called for a dire matter," His eyes flickered over to the mountain outside the high window, "Until tonight."

"Does your," Tsunade paused, clearing your throat, "Contact know anything else?"

Kakashi hummed, "More or less. He believes that they are planning something."

"Bigger than destroying half the Hokage mountain?" Gemna remarked with raised brows.

If this wasn't a call for attention, Sakura didn't know what was. Itachi seemed to follow Sakura's line of thought before he spoke, "I assume, the neighboring countries have sent hunter-nin out."

Kakashi nodded, "They want Konoha to respond."

The Jounins in the room did not have a high enough security clearance to know who exactly was Kakashi's contact – with the exception to Kakashi of course – but Sakura can't help but feel that there was something strange going on, because why _now?_

—

"Don't you think it's weird that Baa-chan doesn't want to fight back?" Naruto asked, his chopsticks poking at his grilled fish.

It was morning now, bright sunlight filtering over the open-shop south of the academy. It was obvious that no one had slept, but time waits for no one. It was almost warm, the beginnings of fall creeping just barely and the wind were more of a cold wash if anything.

"No," Sakura replied, she picked up a rolled omelet and chewed carefully, "There's something else going on."

"Whattya mean?" He frowned.

"Tsunade-sama has ANBU trackers and sensors working on the chakra signatures," She explained, the saltiness of the egg made her mouth twist and she sipped her tea before finishing her sentence, "I don't think she wants to rush blindly into this."

"But Konoha doesn't need to be seen as weak, Sakura-chan! Don't you think if we wait too long that something bad will happen?" Naruto ripped a piece of a fish and shoved it into his mouth, "It was a miracle no one got hurt in the bombing! Seriously who the _hell_ bombs the Hokage mountain?"

Sakura stared at him, "You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"Naruto?" Sasuke interjected and took a seat on the opposite edge of the table, "Thinking? Really?"

"You're late," She chided, "I've barely gotten Naruto into eating normal food."

"Shut up, bastard," Naruto sulked, "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei could tell us—if we could _find_ him."

Sasuke would've rolled his eyes if he didn't have such a headache, instead, he poured himself some tea and ordered his meal by the meantime, he said, "The police force has been patrolling the entire village since last night; ANBU has been dispatched."

"All of them?" The blonde squawked.

Sakura's fingers itched to slap him right across the back of his head.

"No, idiot," Sasuke answered blankly, "Just my brother and whoever else he requested."

"It's getting bad, isn't it?" Sakura stated almost absently and she sipped her soup.

Sasuke looked at her oddly, he drawled, "What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember the last time we had this much patrol and dispatch ninja out?" She asked, her voice hot like lava, she grabbed a rice ball and munched on it, "Orochimaru was here."

Naruto stiffened.

"That's right," Sakura said sternly, "Tsunade-sama doesn't want this escalate, which is exactly why she is waiting for more information and more reports. She doesn't want war. She wants to contain it."

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

Sakura knew what her teacher was doing, it was the same tactic the shogun used in Iron. He waited to see the enemy's next move, once he saw through their plan, the shogun gave his orders and eventually decapitated the threat. The Hokage didn't want to go to war without having a plan in action, lives should not be lost for the sake of haste.

"Haruno Sakura," An ANBU appeared to her left, adjacent to the metal post of the shop, he presented her a scroll and disappeared.

She glanced at the puff of smoke suspiciously before turning her attention to the scroll, unraveling the rice paper, she read the contents and her chakra spiked high enough for Naruto and Sasuke to jump out of their seats.

Naruto, ever so cautious, looked at her with clear, blue eyes, he asked quietly, "Sakura-chan?"

Her lips thinned, "Summons to the Hokage Tower. The Kazekage has been kidnapped."

And it hasn't even been twenty-four hours.

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 **footnote1: man it's been a while since I wrote Naruto.**

 **footnote2: you guys are amazing ( :**

 **footnote3: and just who is kakashi's contact?**

 **footnote4: pls drop a review on your way out.**


	3. to take the lead

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **to take the lead**

* * *

Sakura's molars crunched her soldier pill into a thousand tiny shards, the black aftertaste of malt made her throat seize, almost as if she were going to cough, but she swallowed the bitterness with her own saliva, and the tongue-twisting essence almost made her forget her ire. Almost.

It had come as a surprise when Tsunade summoned Team seven to the Hokage tower and ordered Sakura to take point for the mission. Team leader. Her jaw almost dropped, but she stared at the hefty scroll in her hands and felt gratitude to her former master, because she _believed_ in her.

Of course, Naruto had to open his mouth, bitterness and jealousy and evident in his tone, "But why _her_?"

Yes.

 _Why her?_

But Sakura didn't believe it was necessary to open her mouth to address such question that was so obvious in answer. It still stung, because this was _Naruto_ and she would've at least like to think that he understood; it was evident that he didn't. So she ignored him, but Kakashi-sensei had explained that the Kankuro's brother was poisoned.

"Oh, that's why."

 _That's why._

Because she was just a _medic._

Sakura had shouldered enough bullshit in the years that's been alive, but Naruto really put the knife in in that one. It's what he didn't say that has always bothered her, she had always craved praise—acceptance, sometimes it didn't have to be verbal, and she hated herself for growing bitter because it was a weak emotion. It demanded attention, it demanded appeasement, demanded constant care and approval.

Receiving acknowledgment was practically non-existent with them — he should've just said that she would've never make it up to their level.

It might have hurt less.

Even _Sasuke_ knew that they were in the wrong and that was ironic in its own self.

"Stop," Sakura came to halt on a tree branch, her fingers twitched and she picked up a taste of chakra from the west. "Three thousand feet west, three nin en route."

"Orders, captain?" Kakashi asked lightly.

Sakura knew that he was teasing her, but part of her believed that he was mocking her. It was dark, that thought, her self-worth shouldn't reflect how she was perceived to just these three imbeciles, but sometimes that's just how things were.

"Sasuke," She started, "Give me an estimation."

Sasuke moved forward, his eyes bled red, he replied, "Half an hour away, and their chakra seems to be chunin to jounin level."

"We're going to double our speed," Sakura ordered, green eyes following the light of shadow, "We can't afford to intercept, we're only of couple hours away from Wind country," she raised her chakra level just a few notches, "We have to preserve our chakra."

And then she moved.

She knew Naruto wanted in on the action, just as he wanted Tsunade to send him out in the field to hunt down this group, it was not only childish of him, but it was selfish too, because not everyone had an endless supply of chakra—he wasn't worked to the bone like she was and she really _hated_ herself for thinking like this.

Sakura rolled her shoulders.

Kankuro was her first priority.

It took two hours to reach the Land of Wind, checkpoint was hectic, shinobi were running around and there were only two nin at border patrol and it was _chaos._ One of the diplomats escorted her and her team to the hospital—top floor.

"Sakura," Temari sighed in relief when she saw the Leaf shinobi, "Thank the gods, I'm glad Tsunade took me seriously when I said to send her _best_."

Sakura squashed the urge to smile, instead, she handed her the scroll and gave her a gentle look, "Tell me everything."

And she did.

Temari told her about the fight, the poison, the symptoms, the strange bird, the bombs – to which she narrowed her eyes at – and the way her brother fought for his life.

"I need some hot water, in a tub preferably," Sakura gave her orders to the scrambling medics, "You make this," she handed him a piece of paper, "I need three hours and then I want a list of every herb in this country."

Temari watched silently as Sakura took control of the room and how her teammates did nothing but watch from the outside, and the blonde couldn't help but feel slightly empathetic to the pink-haired medic.

Because she knew it wasn't easy holding her ground with legends.

Sakura's brain was half-working on the math equations of each chemical compound and the dosage, the other half was trying to figure how she would be able to stop the poison from completely decomposing his liver. The irony lay in the poison itself. Toxin breaking down the liver, when it should be the liver that breaks down the toxin.

"He's stable," Sakura announced after a while, she pulled the last bits of poison and then she smiled at Temari, "He's going to be fine."

Temari exhaled and slid against the wall.

"I need a lab or greenhouse," She started again, crossing her arms she continued, "I extracted most of the poison, but I still need to make an antidote to prevent any decomposing or scarring of the organs and eliminate the last of the poison."

Temari breathed slowly, "Our labs and greenhouses were destroyed during the kidnapping—they were in the hospitals and on the outskirts, but we do have a greenhouse in the Kage compound. I can lead you there."

"Very well," Sakura turned to look at her team and she narrowed her eyes, "No one is leaving the village until I have made an antidote. Understood?"

She waited until she received three very faint nods.

Good.

Sakura inhaled, at least they listened.

Twelve hours passed and the sun was sliding over the zenith. Bitter sunlight, made her eyes wince and her bones creak, but at least the worse was over.

"Slowly Kankuro," Sakura chided as she helped him drink the bitter liquid, "You're going have to take it easy. That poison did a lot of muscle damage."

"I can't believe you almost died," Naruto stated bluntly.

Kankuro scowled, fingers crunching into fists, and he snapped, "I didn't ask to be poisoned!"

Exhaling, she took a seat and asked, "Tell us what happened."

It was quite a tale to be honest, though Naruto did interject every then and now about techniques, Sasuke made at least two comments while Kakashi watched the scene with much scrutiny. "—ged to get this," Kankuro pulled out a piece of cloth from his puppet's hand, a small piece of black fabric with a red cloud, he said proudly, smugly, "How's that for almost dying?"

.

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.

A ten-hour nap, five rice balls in and a plate of gyoza did Sakura manage to feel somewhat human. Her eyes hurt from squinting into a microscope for so long, but she finally managed to get some rest while Kakashi's nin-dogs did some scouting.

"Tea?" Temari asked.

She nodded.

It was jasmine she realized faintly, the floral sweetness rolling in the back of her throat, almost made her sigh, she was still waiting. After sending her report to Tsunade, she was waiting for further instructions and or information.

"Thank you for saving my brother, Sakura," Temari bowed her head humbly, "Really."

Sakura blinked and then she stood up straighter, "Please, you don't need to thank me. I was just doing my job."

"A job that no other medic here could do," Temari replied bitterly and then she shook her head, "Still I am grateful. I just have…Gaara to worry about."

The medical shinobi pursed her lips, she replied honestly, "Gaara is too stubborn to die, but I think you knew that already."

There was a ghost of a smile, she sipped her tea, "It's a sibling thing."

This time, Sakura really did smile.

An hour later, Naruto came running in with Sasuke in tow, he waved his hands, "Kakashi-sensei picked up a trail!"

"Where?" Her voice was sharp.

"North," Sasuke answered, onyx orbs fading to slate, "Ishi Village."

"Earth country?" Temari frowned.

"On the border of Earth and Ishi," He clarified.

They haven't reached far, she mused, "Where's sensei?"

"Alerting Ibiki-san," Naruto replied, "We need to leave as soon—"

"We are not leaving until we get orders, Naruto," Sakura said firmly, she placed her cup on the table, "We need to know where we stand before we enter, for all we know it could be a trap."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice had taken a serious note and it made her uncomfortable without how stern he sounded, "We _need_ to leave, now. Gaara could be dying and we can't leave our comrade out—"

"Naruto," She inhaled, trying to get a grip on her temper before she says something that she knows she will regret in the future, "No. We wait for the order. This is not just about saving your friend, this is an international incident, and if you act recklessly—people other than Gaara can die."

Naruto flinched.

"One of the reasons that Tsunade made me captain for this mission is because I'm a diplomat," Sakura stated, bluntly, almost as if her voice were made of silver, "I know how these things work. Our mission was to save Kankuro and Gaara is our secondary object. Until I get the okay with the Hokage then we can move," she tried to soften her voice, but it was still drenched with disappointment, "I know you want to save Gaara, but this isn't about you Naruto, this can get bad really— _really_ fast."

Sasuke stared at her as if she were a different person.

But Naruto and Sasuke were not conscious when she had to fight for her life, their life in the Forest of Death. They didn't see things that she had to see, it was killed or be killed. They weren't there when Team Seven had disbanded. Kakashi with Sasuke and Naruto with Jiraiya. Sometimes she hated the way she saw things, it made her bitter and pessimistic. She didn't want to be like that, but she was pushed into such a position—where resentment and harsh thoughts started to pile up, like lava before it spewed ash.

If they kept pushing her, she didn't know how far she'd make it until she breaks.

* * *

 **footnote1: i hate school; why am i not finished yet**

 **footnote2: do people still use tumblr is the real question?**

 **footnote3: i miss shisui**

 _please drop a review on your way out._


	4. dark of your room

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

—

* * *

 **dark of your room**

* * *

Everything fucking _hurt._ Sakura felt like she'd been _mauled._ A thousand. It had to be over a thousand goddam puppets she destroyed and the stab wound felt like it was on fire. After this mission, she was getting fucking _hammered._

The day after Chiyo's death, Gaara came around, walking throughout his compound, almost in awe that he was actually _back._ After the week they've had, it was unfortunate enough that Konoha _had_ to deem the Akatsuki as a threat. She walked around the compound too, trying to get her muscles to work, and heal whatever aches she had. Despite the retrieval of the Kazekage, Sakura had yet to debrief her team on what the _hell_ had happened.

She, the only shinobi to kill an Akatsuki member and live to tell the tale.

If she wasn't in the bingo books, she was _now._

But that was what Kakashi had said when she told him, his visible eye widened and then he ruffled her hair the same way her father would do when she did something well.

It was a good feeling.

Sakura was in some type of room, it was made of oak, warm oak flooring, and furniture. Some sort of study she assumed, there were books, tons and tons of books cluttering the shelves and an atlas. It looked ancient, something a grandfather would own.

Something caught the light of the sun and silver glinted over the fireplace.

A katana.

"Wow," Sakura breathed, it was a pretty katana. Thin, sharp and double hilted, the rubber of the handle was smoky, almost as if it were charcoal and silver writing lined the side. It was like it was calling out to her, she had a similar feeling like this before—with her chakra gloves.

"It says _Ikigai_ ," A new voice interrupted her thoughts.

Sakura snapped her had back, she blinked a few times before melding her expression into one of calmness, bowing she winced, "Kazekage-sama."

Damn stab wound.

"Gaara and at ease," He corrected, he walked closer to her and helped her sit down, "Naruto has been looking for you."

She huffed, "He can never take a break."

Gaara and her relationship was first-name basis, serving as a diplomat and medical officer between villages meant that she had to report to him and the Hokage. They were on friendly terms, yes, but they weren't on _Naruto's_ definition of friendly terms.

"He is certainly eager," He added in absently, he pulled out the katana from the mantle, "It was a gift to my grandfather. The previous shogun gave it to hi, after my grandfather saved his brother from a war prison."

It was quite a long history, the Kazekage line that is, complicated as it could get. The Land of Iron was a neutral country, they preferred to keep to themselves—isolation really, and they didn't have shinobi. They had _samurai_ and samurai katanas were the best of the best.

"It's really pretty," Sakura commented vaguely, the blade was gorgeous, sharp and clean.

"Keep it," Gaara said suddenly, sheathing the katana back into its holster and tossing it to her.

Sakura barely caught it – because what the _hell_? – her fingers grasped the leather clumsily, she yelped, "What? Kaze—I can't keep this."

Gaara snorted, "Don't be ridiculous. Accept it as a gift," he looked over at the katana in her glove-less hands with sureness and his voice grew quiet, "For saving my brother's life."

She wanted to fight with him on this, but it there was something in the way he said his last sentence, a soft tone and lilt of warmth. Gaara did not give her the katana just because she was looking at it, he gave it to her because she _deserved_ it—because she saved his brother and saved him — because he was grateful and it was a gift from the leader of Suna.

 _To strengthen relations between two countries that were once on the precipice of destruction._

Sakura exhaled and wondered what the shogun would say.

The next following days were slow. Healing took time, her chakra reserves were nearly full by noon, even in her unconscious state, her body seemed to heal at a slow, but steady rate and when morning came her chakra was full up to three-quarters.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto started off slowly, "Is that a katana?"

"Yep," She paused, mid-dango bite, "The Kazekage gave it to me."

"But why?" He frowned, "You're scary enough with your fists, why add a weapon?"

"To be even more scary," Sakura scowled, she finished her snack and sipped her tea, "I have basic training with my katana, but I've been thinking, I should only use my chakra if I have to—not all of us have an unlimited chakra source."

Kakashi chided her, "Sakura-chan."

She shrugged, but she wouldn't apologize.

"I'd be better off with the sword," Sasuke stated, almost as if he were about demand her to give it to him.

She stared at him almost disinterested, if she weren't exhausted, she was sure her temper would've came out to play, but when she replied her voice was cool, "It's unfortunate that the Kazekage finds you…unworthy."

And she found pleasure in watching him scowl.

Sasuke had everything handed to him, he didn't have to struggle to get where she was and him demanding things just because he had a higher skill set because he was from a _clan_ made her want to break his teeth. It was demeaning, but most of all it was just plain _wrong._

.

.

.

On the way back to Konoha, the team decided to stop in a civilian village, mostly because they needed supplies, and a place to sleep as well. Sakura had shamelessly pulled out the injury card and forced the trio to check into an inn while she browsed around in the market. Truth be told, she was really looking for a library or a bookstore.

She wasn't lying when she said she had basic training with a katana. She was barely a novice with it, she knew more offensive strategies then she knew defensive, hell, she didn't even know how to funnel _chakra_ through the blade. She sighed, fingers curling over her medic pouch on instinct – an unconscious habit born of insecurity – it was silly, but sometimes she felt like someone could take away her skills if given the chance, and in this case, her supplies.

There was this one place she saw on the corner of a teashop. A bookstore, though it had more novels and Kakashi's favorite type of literature, she found a crook in between the history and autobiography section. It looked like an old scroll, she assumed an antique, but it was katana theory rather than an actual jutsu or instruction manual. It was a small bookstore, almost as if it were made for tiny people, small shelves, narrow hallways and drawers that were tucked in each corner against the artificial lighting.

Sakura knew her limitations of course, she worked better with her head than she did with her hands.

Working with her head wasn't going to save her life if she could match her mental abilities with her physical ones. Her finger ran over the gilded metal of the scroll, she wrinkled her nose, and unraveled it slowly.

 _Within the equation of Kiko's Theorem, kenjutsu is funneled through a blade, a medium that interacts with both the external release of chakra and internal release, chakra is—_

"Did you find what you were looking for, Miss?" The shopkeeper interrupted her skimming of said scroll, green eyes flickered over to a kindly old man.

Sakura had learned Kiko's Theorem in the academy, she had spoken to Shikamaru about the theorem a while ago, having the basics down about funneling chakra through a medium was simple in theory, but to execute it—that was the problem. Despite having perfect chakra control, she never actually had a blade to attempt it—Shikamaru had provided a basepoint for her, though she would have to pick his brain a bit more, because she was sure there were holes in the theory.

And if she knew Shikamaru, she damn well _knew_ that he would love to prove the textbooks wrong.

"Ah, yes," She smiled hesitantly, "I would like to purchase this."

.

.

.

To enter Konoha from the northwest, shinobi and civilians would have to pass through Kusagakure. It was nearing nightfall and even if no one told her, Kakashi was uncomfortable with this country, which is why he asked if he could take the lead – he followed protocol – and she felt like a bitch when she said _no_. As much as she would love to speed home, she had to take into account the other shinobi that were following her a half a day journey behind her.

The injured and the sick.

"I can't wait to go home," Naruto groaned, he threw himself into his sleeping bag and wiggled around like a worm.

"Don't we all?" Sakura sighed, she pulled herself closer to the fire, she mumbled more to herself than to anyone else, "I really want some dango."

Solider pills and dried food were only good for so many days, her mouth had forgotten what real food tasted like. Her stab wound was almost healed, but because the blade was poisoned, there would always be a mark. The pinkness of the scab hooked onto her shirt, tugging it with every sharp twist and move of her torso.

"You look like you got stabbed," Sasuke commented, he raised an eyebrow at her discomfort when she leaned to the right of the log.

"That's because I did," She rolled her eyes and rolled her hips so the weight of her torso shifted to her core, the pressure easing.

"What?" Naruto sat up abruptly, hair disarray and eyes wide.

"Yeah," She breathed, fingers brushing the sides of her knees she looked over at him, "It's healed and all, but it'll be a while before the scab turns into skin. I could speed up the process of cell regeneration, but it's a waste of chakra."

"After we split up with," Sasuke said slowly, flickering his eyes over to Naruto, "And went after Deidara, you disappeared into the cave with Chiyo—we didn't see you until the end."

Sakura nodded and raised a brow, "Are you sure you don't want to wait for the official report? I'm sure there's a lot of details missing."

"Deidara – the guy who bombed the mountain – disappeared," Naruto grumbled, he looked over to his pink-haired teammate, "Did that creepy guy do that to you?"

"Actually," Sakura's lips curled, "He was very pretty."

Kakashi made a sound—a sound that she could not identify nor understand, but it sounded like something like a cough. Sakura rolled her eyes, but he was _pretty._ Like a doll, which made sense because he _was_ a puppet, he kind of reminded her of Orochimaru a little—that search for immortality, but it was kind of different. Different like, Sasori would willing to become something else, Orochimaru wanted to live, but he did not want to go through the same measures Sasori was willing to go to—he wanted the easy way out.

"After Chiyo and I killed him," Sakura started off nonplussed, "He told me that he has a spy working with Orochimaru."

Sasuke's voice struck her as odd, "You killed an Akatsuki member?"

"Yes," She confirmed, a finger tugged on the chain hanging around her neck, the ring dangling just nearing hear knuckle, "I don't understand _why_ Sasori has a spy working with Orochimaru, but I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Naruto stared at her, that ring around her neck was a trophy, and part of him wanted to believe that it was a _lie._ That she _didn't_ kill Sasori, but it was evident enough that she did. The blonde never understood the word _useless_ before, but seeing how Sakura sat near the fire with eyes greener than grass and chakra rippling like waves—it made him feel _unworthy._

He was supposed to _protect_ Sakura.

That's how it was supposed to be and he was sure Sasuke understood that, which is why the Uchiha hasn't said anything yet, but even so, it still stung, because Sakura-chan really didn't need their help anymore.

Sakura felt something shift in the atmosphere, Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet, when she glanced up, his blue eyes were a cobalt and he stared at the fire in almost exasperation. Sasuke was no better because there was no way to describe their physical state, more so their emotions and maybe that was what was keeping her on edge. Sometimes she didn't know what to say to them, she was becoming more and more bitter now that she thought of it, and it she was getting careless when she spoke. Part of her wanted to hurt them—to _deliberately_ hurt them and that made her sick to her stomach.

Kakashi wasn't even paying attention, his head nose-deep in his book.

She glanced back to the small stream just a few hundred feet away, she grabbed her canteen, stood up and announced, "I'm going to get some more water."

She didn't bother to see if they acknowledged her words, because really, what more were they going to say?

The stream was not very big, an arm's length at most, but it ran along the border of Grass country into Wind. Sakura did fill up her canteen, but what she _really_ left the campsite was to open up her scroll and try out a move. Her fingers were itching to play with her new katana. She took out her scroll from her back pouch, unraveled it and angled it so the moon was her only source of light.

— _chakra is both spiritual and physical. Chakra channeled through the blade is both flexible and inflexible. Flexibility is derived from the nature of your chakra, fire chakra, for example, means that it cuts hotter, faster and stronger, but it is also harder to control. Whereas if you have water-based chakra, you can manipulate the stages of water, from ice, to liquid, to wind and plasma, but we will touch on plasma later. It is inflexible because channeling chakra through a blade is limited. There are basic stances and basic moves, your speed and agility will determine on how well you can adapt and manipulate your environment to suit your needs._

Funneling chakra was a lot harder than it looked, she grimaced.

Sakura unsheathed her katana, her weight shifted and she swore almost violently. She kept forgetting about her damn _stab_ wound, she would have to limit her movements. She would have to use her five-style taijutsu, Tsunade had developed this type of taijutsu when she was injured during the war, and was more of the basics than everything—it was enough though. The core of five-style taijutsu was based on shifting your chakra to your core and extending your chakra to your arms.

Keeping your core tight and limbs lithe allowed you to move easily, but the hard part of five-style is that you weren't allowed to move—walk or run. You have five spaces, five in front of you, five to the left, five to the right, and five to the back. That was all the movement you were allowed.

Sakura grasped her katana firmly, with both hands and shifted her weight to the right. She used the weight of the blade to lead her, and sliced the air with ease. It wasn't executed correctly because there was some excess weight on her right foot and it left her lopsided.

 _Think of your chakra as water, your drenching your blade and water—coating the metal with water._

Sakura summoned chakra to her hands, she used her gloves as a conductor and coated the blade. Her chakra, to her surprise, was _white_. Her chakra was usually green or blue, but never white. She lifted the katana to her lips and then swiped downwards at one hundred and eighty degree angle and to her shock, the grass beneath her feet disappeared. It was almost as if it were singed, but there was just dirt beneath her feet and there were no signs of grass. Just the earth.

And she stiffened when she felt a surge chakra flicker through the trees at an alarming speed, shoving her katana back into her holster, she shifted her stance to one of defense—she didn't know if it was luck or not, but the holder of such tremendous chakra was not one of malicious intent.

There were a few other nin behind this shinobi that was speeding through the forest, but they felt like they were walking compared to this nin who was just _flying._ Sakura's foot shifted backwards and her eyes narrowed, but it didn't even really matter her position because she couldn't _see_ him, for his moves were like the wind itself.

The only way she did see him was when he collided into her and she yelped at the re-opening of her wound. He was warm, blood roaring and the hard planes of his chest was an uncomfortable feeling against her breasts—with him shoved so hard against her, it felt he was bruising her.

Sakura's head did hurt when it slammed onto the grass, but the weariness in her bones hurt more. She shifted her chakra into a coil and she was just about to slam her fist into his face when she caught the red eyes of the sharingan.

His sharingan bled into a soft charcoal, with backdrops of soot and he blinked long lashes.

He was so pretty that it _hurt_ , but seriously, it really did hurt because she was having trouble breathing. Literally.

"Can you," She gritted her teeth, embarrassment a hairsbreadth away from appearing on her face, "Get off?"

"Oh," His voice was kind and svelte, unlike any Uchiha she had ever _met_ , his said softly, "I'm sorry."

Sakura blinked.

He even _apologized._

Uchiha men did _not_ apologize, maybe she slammed her head against the ground harder than she thought, he lifted himself off of her and she hissed when the skin of her injury broke. She was going to have use chakra for this.

"You're hurt," He stated quietly, eyes widening fractionally when he caught sight of blood, he helped her sit up and pulled out a bundle of bandages from his back pouch.

Green orbs stared at him in mute disbelief, she shook her head rapidly, she lifted her hand up, and muttered, "Don't worry about it."

The Uchiha looked at her with concern and firm disapproval, he remained patient, however, "Miss, please let me—"

Sakura rolled her eyes, activated her medical chakra, swiped her hand over her wound and raised a brow, "Really, I'm fine Uchiha-san."

He watched the wound close up with surprise and his mouth parted, "You're a medic?"

"Are you sure you're an Uchiha?" She asked curiously, because he was acting kind of strange, a little too...nice.

But then he smiled and the way the air caught in her chest—it _hurt._

His hair was messy, boyishly so and his eyes were kind. There was a certain warmth he had to him, it radiated in comfort and he sat next to her without a care in the world. He was fast, that she knew, but it was like he didn't _care._ His chakra reserves were as impressive as Sasuke's but it felt different. He _felt_ different. He laughed too and it was a little too much for her poor brain, "I'm not like others, then?"

"No," She replied immediately, she grabbed her canteen and rinsed the blood off her wound, "Absolutely not."

"I'll take that as a compliment then," He smiled again, but this time he handed her a wash cloth to clean the blood properly, "But you don't look familiar—have you met a lot of Uchiha clansmen before?"

"More than I would like," Sakura mumbled, she cleaned the rest of the blood and paused when she was about to give the cloth back. Her nose wrinkled, she wouldn't give back his wash cloth with her blood on it. Shoving the washcloth into her pouch, she turned to look at him, "Did the Hokage send for you? The other squads are a half a day behind us."

"Actually—"

"Sakura, we felt a surge of chakra. Was there an—" Sasuke paused, his eyes widened in disbelief as he took in the sight of the nin and it was like a punch to his gut, "Shisui?"

* * *

 **ENTER SHISUI.**

 **A bit longer this time.**

 ** _Ikigai —_ A reason for your existence. **

**Please drop a review on your way out.**


	5. beyond the grave

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

—

* * *

 **beyond the grave**

* * *

Sasuke felt like he had been stabbed. For a dead man, Shisui looked very much alive. Shisui Uchiha committed suicide almost fifteen years ago and Itachi had taken his death with a toll. Obsidian orbs stared at the older Uchiha with something akin to shock, it coiled loosely in his stomach and it felt like he swallowed cold tea.

And Shisui _smiled_ when he greeted his younger cousin, "Sasuke-chan! I haven't seen you in a while."

"Shisui," Sasuke's throat was dry, he was sure he croaked, "What are you—how are you—" he wanted to scratch his brain with a senbon, he choked, "You're _alive_?!"

Shisui wasn't sure if he was amused or if he felt guilty. Maybe it was a little of both. He stood up and gave the pink-haired medic a hand. She looked at him strangely, but she took it nevertheless. If Sasuke knew him, he couldn't be _all_ that bad, right?

Shisui helped her up to her feet, he didn't know what possessed him to do it – perhaps a sense of deep niggling curiosity and maybe he wanted to irritate his younger cousin; he wasn't really sure – he pulled her a little more forcefully, until she stumbled onto her feet and her nose squashed itself against his clavicle. Chest to chest, her hair against his chin and he really _loved_ the way she smelled.

Shisui still answered him though, as if he didn't have his teammate pressed up against him, his voice nonplussed, "I never died, little cousin."

Sakura, who was trying really hard not yelp, released the elder Uchiha's hand and shoved herself a few feet back. She muttered something quick and very unlady-like under her breath, she perched her hands on her hips and asked with irritation combing her words, "What is going on?"

Sakura also had to mentally pat herself on the back for staying rational when she really wanted to throttle her teammate and demand his handsy cousin to stay out of her way or she would use him as target practice for her _fists_.

"Stay out of it, Sakura," Sasuke snapped, his eyes flickered from her form to his older cousin.

 _Forget_ rationality, she was ready to send Sasuke back to Suna— _flying_.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Shisui's tone had a black bite to it, his eyes narrowed and his chakra sparked just enough to have Sakura's hackles raise, "That is _no_ way to talk to a lady. Mikoto-sama did _not_ raise you to act as such. Apologize. _Now_."

Sakura stared at him dubiously.

 _What?_

Sasuke would rather bite off his own tongue than open his mouth and apologize. Still, she was more than thankful to the elder Uchiha, he scolded her teammate, glared at him and pressured him to admit that the younger Uchiha did something _wrong_ – which was ballsy on its own – but Shisui, according to her teammate that is, was Sasuke's older cousin.

Sasuke's mouth opened and then snapped shut. He scowled. His chakra crackled underneath his temper, he cooled his ire and turned to face his only female teammate, his voice was blank and passive, "I am sorry."

If Sakura wasn't so shocked, her jaw might have fallen off, because _Uchiha Sasuke_ had apologized to her.

She wondered if she was still poisoned.

Shisui clearly was someone important in skill and in the clan to have one of the Uchiha heirs succumb into submission, but the fact that he turned around and winked at her was enough to wipe her mind clean.

She had half a mind to ask Tsunade if she could keep him.

.

.

.

As if Tsunade couldn't stop smirking, her face may have permanently been kept into a feline grin as soon as she heard Sakura's report. _Her_ apprentice, her stubborn, little apprentice defeated an S-class criminal and brought back the ring as a _souvenir._ The look on Jiraiya and every shinobi within range of the room – men mostly – looked at her with horrified admiration, and Gods above—retribution was so _sweet._ Her apprentice, who was the leader of her first – she says first because it was her first time leading – S-class mission, not only killed Sasori of the Red Sands, but saved the Kazekage's brother and receive intel on Orochimaru, all the while still retaining diplomatic ties to Suna—!

Tsunade was fucking _proud_.

"You do realize you're going to be in the Bingo Books now, right Sakura?" Tsunade said, honey-colored orbs twinkling with mirth.

Sakura replied dryly, "So, I've gathered."

"And the Kazekage gave you that katana as a sign of gratitude," She mused, at the metal holstered at her hip, "From the samurai no less."

"Wouldn't that be considered a marriage proposal?" Shizune said slowly, Tonton blinking from her arms.

Sakura paled and Naruto bristled.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "I doubt Gaara is even ready for marriage, but," she chuckled, "Keep your eyes open for any marriage proposals, Sakura. A political marriage is an unquestionable alliance."

Sakura gaped, "Tsunade-sama!"

The Hokage winked.

"Please don't give her any ideas, Hokage-sama," Kakashi sighed uncomfortable with the attention the men were giving Sakura in the room, he was only human after all, he had Sasuke and Naruto to deal with. He couldn't afford to be arrested for manslaughter.

When Tsunade dismissed the remaining nin, only Rookie Nine, and a handful of ANBU remain inside the room. She grabbed a scroll from the underneath of her bottom drawer, she began, "As you all know, the Uchiha clan had wanted to overthrow Konoha, Danzo Shimura's staging, the framework, the release of the Nine Tails—everything," she motioned for the ANBU to unmask, "Itachi had been used a double agent for the clan and the Third."

Sasuke stiffened and Itachi's lips flattened.

"Itachi was just a child back then," Tsunade continued, "We didn't know it was Danzo or his involvement until our second double agent told us. Shisui Uchiha was going to use his sharingan to manipulate the head of the Uchiha clan to prevent the coup, Danzo, however, decided to take matters into his own hand and steal Shisui's eye. Shisui committed suicide to prevent the Uchiha clan from the coup, but not before, using the Yamanaka clan to record the entire scene with their forbidden jutsu," she paused to look over at Itachi, "Thus proving and having sufficient evidence that Danzo orchestrated the entire charade. The Uchiha clan dropped their suit. Danzo's execution allowed to us plant back Shisui's eye and remove the other…atrocities."

Sakura stared at her blankly.

"But faking Shisui's suicide just gave us another opportunity to figure out who _really_ was behind the attack of the Nine-Tails," Tsunade dropped that piece of information a little too casually if Kakashi had to be honest.

Itachi stiffened this time.

"Shisui was Kakashi's contact for roughly fifteen years. As a _non-affiliated_ shinobi for Konoha – a spy – Shisui was undercover deep enough to gather enough intel," Tsunade tilted her head to Sakura, "Pertaining this organization that you all encountered within this mission," then she smiled, "As of today, Uchiha Shisui will be reinstated as a Konoha shinobi, rank, and status effective immediately."

"Thanks, Hokage-sama," Shisui's voice emerged suddenly, he smiled sheepishly as he appeared in front of the back window, "Though the speech was a little too much."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Get in here, kid."

Itachi couldn't seem to grasp what was in front of him, his eyes widened and for the first time, he felt something like hope bubble in his chest. He felt foolish, of course, Shisui was alive—they never found his _body._ He swallowed, "Shisui."

Shisui blinked, he turned to look at him oddly, almost as if he couldn't recognize him and then his eyes twinkled with warmth, he laughed and threw his arm over his shoulder, "Wow Itachi, you're almost as tall as me."

"You are only five years older."

"I'm still older."

Sakura stared at the man—the Uchiha who just laughed and threw his arm around _Itachi_. Itachi who was probably the stiffest Uchiha she ever met – excluding Fugaku of course – like they were best friends and they probably were best friends, because Itachi was smiling with his eyes.

"Shisui," Kakashi tried to break up the light atmosphere by asking, "What is it that you uncovered?"

Shisui blinked, straightened up and then looked at the handful of shinobi in the room. His eyes trailed over to Sakura and stayed on her for more than few seconds. His eyes were coal, warmth with—something, even the curve his lips seemed to tilt upwards, and then he flickered them to Sasuke.

"The group that you encountered goes by the name of _Akatsuki_ ," Shisui explained, "They are like a terrorist group if you will. A group of world class criminals. I have only identified three of the members," he then flickered his eyes over to Sakura, "One of which is named Deidara, he's blonde makes bombs out of clay. The other person, is the one _Sakura—_ " her name rolled off in a softer tone, almost like silk, and she knew she wasn't the only one that heard it—even Kakashi stiffened, "killed. A puppet master from Suna himself, he excels in poison and medicine."

She nodded.

"—the other is a man named Kisame. One of the members from the _Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist_."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and Naruto.

But Shisui caught the entire movement and then he asked, "You know of them, Sasuke-chan?"

Sasuke twitched at the nickname and answered, "Team Seven's…first mission encountered one of the swordsmen. Zabuza," He flickered his eyes over to Naruto, "A year later we encountered Raiga."

"When you say _encountered_ …" Shikamaru interjected, he was trying to markdown all the latest threats.

"They're dead," Sakura said flatly.

Gemna's eyebrow raised, "But weren't you all Genin?"

Naruto huff was enough of an answer.

"Was the person who bombed the Hokage mountain, Deidara?" She asked suddenly, it made sense after all.

"Yes," Tsunade nodded and then she frowned, "After the kidnapping of the Kazekage and the bombing of the mountain, we have to recognize them as a threat. Especially since the only reasoned they kidnapped the Kazekage was because he was a jinchuriki," her eyes narrowed, "And managed to extract the Shukaku. This is an international crime."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"The elimination of the Akatsuki is our a top priority," Tsunade stood up, she stood next to her apprentice, "Danzo was not smart enough to come up with the release of the Nine-Tails and if he had help—he _must_ be connected with the Akatsuki."

Shisui nodded, "The Akatsuki is the only organization that is capable of releasing and extracting a tailed beast."

Tsunade turned to Sakura and spoke, "And we are going to start with Orochimaru."

.

.

.

Ino flopped onto Sakura's bed with a dramatic sigh and said, "Uchiha Shisui, huh?"

"He's kind of strange isn't he?" Sakura skimmed through her closet, fingers brushing hangers before she huffed in exasperation, "He certainly doesn't _act_ like an Uchiha."

"So you _have_ met him."

The pink-haired nin turned to look at the blonde, she blinked, "Didn't I tell you?"

The blonde scowled, "No."

"We were somewhere in Grass, remember you guys were like six hours behind us?" Sakura started off, "We crashed in some forest. Naruto and Sasuke were being stupid as usual, so I said I was going to go fill up my canteen by the stream — how about red?" she pulled out a red dress to show her friend.

Ino wrinkled her nose, "No. Clan events require subdued colors unless you're the center of attention," she pointed to softer pastels and jewel tones on either ends of her closet, "Let me so those. So what happened?"

"I filled up my canteen obliviously, but I also wanted to try out my new katana. I only know basic forms, the scroll said that I would have to adapt to it and use chakra," she pulled out a pale yellow sundress, "This one?"

"Too festival-like," The blonde shook her head, "And then?"

"Then," Sakura thought about it, "Then I felt his chakra. It was fast, it was faster than Sasuke's and Itachi-san's. I've never felt speed like that before. I only had a few seconds to put away my katana before he slammed into me."

Ino looked at her, "What do you mean Shisui-san _slamme_ d into you?"

"Literally," She huffed, "He opened up my wound and I almost smashed my fist into his chest cavity too, but I didn't when I saw his sharingan. He offered me bandages when he saw that I was bleeding, he even apologized. He was kind of sweet about it, but in like a firm way and he stopped insisting until he realized I was a medic, " Sakura paused, "It was different. He wasn't like overbearing or overly-masculine about it, you know what I mean? He was polite, but he treated me like—like a woman."

Ino blinked, "What do you mean by a _woman_?"

Sakura grabbed a short, deep blue, silk kimono with silver lining and a white obi. She pressed the kimono against her chest, it would hit just above the knee, she asked, "How about this?"

"I like it," The blonde paused, "Do you still have the silver sandals I got you?"

"The lace-up ones?"

"Yep."

"They're somewhere in my closet," Sakura frowned and rummaged through, "Anyway, he didn't treat me like how Naruto or Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei treat me. Like _just_ a medic or their female teammate that just stood in the background or depreciate—" she inhaled frustrated already, "You know how they are," Sakura grabbed her silver sandals that were hidden in the corner of the closet, "Shisui-san was very kind when he spoke to me, gentle, but in a—I don't even know how to _describe_ him. He was just very…honorable."

Ino stared at her and then she gaped, "You _like_ him?"

"Of course I like him," Sakura snapped and then she chuckled, "Do you know what the best part was?"

"Tell me!"

"Sasuke felt his chakra and came to see what was going on. After today, I realized that he thought Shisui-san was dead and when I asked what was going on—Sasuke got all pissy and asshole-ish," Sakura rolled her eyes and her lips quirked up, "Shisui-san scolded him and told him to apologize."

"Sasuke _apologized_?"

Sakura nodded, "I wonder if I can keep him to train Sasuke and Naruto," then she paused, "Maybe Kakashi-sensei too."

Ino laughed, "Well this banquet is the perfect opportunity to do so," then she quirked a brow, "But is it really necessary?"

She shrugged, "The Uchiha clan have their own tradition. Mikoto-sama was kind enough to extend the invitation to me and Naruto. I think it's nice though, Shisui-san's been away for almost fifteen years, a celebration to welcome him home seems appropriate."

"Alright put on the dress and I'll do your makeup," Ino commanded, she crossed her arms, "Do you have ice cream?"

"I have mint."

"Seriously?"

"What? It's good for your stomach."

"Sakura, some things should just _stay_ at the hospital," Ino sighed, she grabbed the makeup brushes on the counter and made magic. A little eyeliner, some blush, and a lip stain, she grumbled, "At least your skin is behaving, you don't even need powder, and because it's an event you can't wear _too_ much. Where's your mascara?"

"By the desk and be careful with it, I got it from overseas."

"How fancy."

"When I need to be, pig."

"Your hair is going to be in a side part. Grow it out if you want a husband."

"I actually did like having long hair, you know," Sakura grimaced, "The chunin exam kind of scarred me."

"You can't let one bad experience ruin the others," Ino chastised, "Think of it this way—since you pummel your teammates on a daily basis: grow your hair and think of it as a training exercise."

"A training exercise?"

"No one should be close enough to touch your hair," Ino said firmly, fingers slick with hair cream, "So don't let them get close. That should be your objective."

Sakura thought about it for a moment, "Huh. You're kind of smart, pig."

Ino felt no remorse when she snagged the back of Sakura's hair roughly, she blamed the sticky cream, "Shut up, forehead."

Ten minutes of poking and prodding, Ino finally declared Sakura fit enough to be in the public's view. Hair tucked into a side part, a waterfall of hair on the right side of her face and the bare skin of her neck made her feel slightly uncomfortable, especially since the kimono was an off-shoulder dress.

Her eyes were the focal part and these earrings that Ino lent her were two pieces of white opal and they brought the greenness of her eyes – so did the kohl but Ino thought it was the earrings – and her bare clavicle did nothing but emphasize her small stature.

"Can you breathe, forehead?" Ino tied her obi tightly.

"Yes, but if Mikoto-sama made rice-balls I won't be breathing later."

"And you call _me_ the pig."

Slipping on her sandals, she turned to look at Ino, and asked, "Good?"

"If I was Shisui," Ino started off suggestively, "I'd jump you first chance I got."

Sakura threw her pillow at her face, she closed the door and said, "I'll see you later, Kaa-chan!"

Ino's muffled voice was heard despite the pinkette leaving the premise, "Don't mess up your makeup!"

It was a ten-minute walk from her home to the Uchiha compound, which was past farmer's market and the hospital tower. The compound was tucked neatly into a corner section of Konoha, where the Nara forest ended and the Hokage mountain began.

Sakura stared at the front door of Sasuke's home with a bit of trepidation. It _sounded_ like a lot of people, but thankfully Naruto appeared next to her in a span of a few seconds.

"You look pretty, Sakura-chan," Naruto smiled and then frowned, "Aren't you going to be cold?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "It's summer, Naruto."

"Right."

She looked at him with an orange button-up and dark blue slacks. At least he wasn't wearing his jumpsuit, she wrinkled, "You look good too. Maybe less orange next time?"

Naruto sputtered, "What's wrong with orange?"

"Do you want a list, dobe?" Sasuke asked, he was leaning against the open door.

"Bastard, why didn't you say you were there?"

"Why are you standing in front of the main entrance?"

"We were going to knock," Sakura interjected, she brushed the back of her neck with her hand and Sasuke was very aware of her bare skin, and she finished with a glare, "But I was waiting for Naruto."

"Sasuke why are you—oh, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san," Itachi's voice was pleasant compared to Sasuke's dry tone, he opened the door wider and motioned his younger brother to move, "Please come in, Kaa-san is expecting you."

Sakura was very aware of the eyes on her and she cursed herself for having pink hair. She probably looked like a fish in a sea of eels. Naruto was at her back, though that didn't make her feel any better, she wasn't sure how much etiquette he acquired since he trained with Jiraiya, and she could only hope he held his tongue if one of the Elder's spoke to him.

But Sakura, she has her limits herself.

"Sasuke did your mom make the rice balls?" Sakura asked seriously.

Sasuke glanced at her, "I saved a tray in the garden."

Naruto grinned, "Well, you finally did _something_ right."

"And what the _hell_ —"

"Your parents are coming, hush!" Sakura hissed and then smiled at Mikoto's kind eyes, "Mikoto-sama, Fugaku-sama thank you for inviting us this evening."

"Please Sakura-chan," She smiled, hands tucked in between the sleeves of her kimono, "You two are practically family."

Naruto beamed.

.

.

.

"Sakura, right?" Shisui's voice was like a drop of water in a quiet lake, she blinked, mouth full of rice and she turned her head to face the older Uchiha.

Sakura swallowed her rice – she was kind of shocked she didn't choke – and nodded.

"Mikoto-sama's rice balls are still a godsent, huh?" He chuckled fondly, he rested his weight on the back of his heels and shoved his hands into pockets.

She seriously hoped there wasn't any rice stuck to her face or mouth for that matter. Sasuke left the rest of the rice balls to her when she snuck out to the gazebo, there underneath the bench was some Tupperware filled with riceballs, Naruto ate half of the tray, however – she silently glared at the plastic with betrayal – but she managed to eat three-quarters of her section with no one looking.

"Mikoto-sama used to make riceballs for us when we were genin," Sakura explained, her calf was tucked underneath her thighs as she sat on the bench, the other leg rested against the concrete of the floor, string lights lay limp against the structure and beams of the gazebo. It glittered yellow and his hair seemed more like ash than black, "But now that we're older, we don't really get them anymore," she rolled her eyes, "Sasuke tries to hoard them when there are events and when Itachi-san isn't available."

Shisui laughed, "Itachi always did like riceballs, which is why Mikoto-sama didn't make them for tonight. Itachi did."

Sakura blinked and then looked down at her lonely riceball.

Sasuke might vomit if she told him.

"Oh," She didn't know what to say to that.

Shisui took a seat next to her, it shouldn't have surprised her, but it did. She was expecting it to be awkward, the atmosphere, she expected it to be uncomfortable, but Shisui took a seat next to her and spoke to her like they were old friends. His voice was sweet, gentle, like a blanket, for her to compare it something, she would have to say it was like honey—it was thick, languid, but slender enough to keep her warm. Sasuke's voice was heavy and rough, much like his sword work and Itachi's voice was gentler, like the wind, soothing but sometimes it was harsh enough to cut you.

"How does it feel to be back in the village after so many years?" Sakura asked suddenly, her eyes were emerald.

"It's hard to say," If he was surprised by the question, he didn't show it, he replied and looked a little lost when he watched the compound, "I saw my mom for the first time in years, it was…difficult. She didn't recognize me the first few hours and I didn't push her. After dinner, she called my name and it was…" Shisui looked so tired, happy, but tired, "It was _hard._ "

"I'm sorry," Sakura said because she was _sorry_. It was a sacrifice, the life of a shinobi was built on sacrifice and it was hard to be selfless. Sometimes you don't remember what it was like to be selfish, Sakura never did learn.

Shisui stared at her, "I don't regret it, Sakura."

"I know," She nodded because she understood he was happy to serve his country and his family, "But I'm still sorry."

The wind kicked up a bit, one of the string lights almost slapped the medic in the face, her hand tucked it back into the crook of the pillar, then she asked, "Would you like the last rice-ball, Uchiha-san? I'm reluctant to give Sasuke the last piece."

Shisui laughed and accepted the rice ball, "You must like me a whole lot better than Sasuke-chan if you're willing to give away your last riceball."

Sakura rolled her eyes and muttered, "Sasuke is…spoiled."

"How did that happen?" Shisui munched on his riceball, his kimono like water on his warm skin, "He's not the same sweet kid I knew from before."

Sakura stared at him, "Sasuke? _Sweet?_ "

"It must be hard for you to understand then, if you've never saw him like how I _saw_ him," He finished his riceball and leaned into the bench, "He was a really good kid when he was younger."

She raised a brow, "Huh. I've seen pictures, but somehow I don't believe it."

Shisui smiled and somehow, it made her nervous, "What about you?"

Sakura blinked, not understanding the question, she questioned him, "Me?"

"I've heard stories about you since I came back," Shisui revealed, hair tickling his forehead, he leaned in closer, close enough for her to feel the warmth radiate off his body, "Haruno Sakura, apprentice of the fifth Hokage, second-best medic in the world, only known shinobi to kill an Akatsuki member and live to tell the tale, head medic of Konoha hospital, and riceball lover," he tilted his head to the side and smiled, "Did I miss anything?"

Sakura then realized, that smile of his was very, _very_ dangerous.

.

.

.

* * *

 **Sakura is troubled, Shisui is curious and Itachi—Itachi is Itachi.**

 _Please drop a review on your way out._


	6. princess princess

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **princess princess**

* * *

Sakura stared at him for a little more than what deemed appropriate and then she responded, "Female teammate of the infamous Team Seven and student of Hatake Kakashi,"

Shisui waved it off, "Logistics."

Sakura quirked a brow, "Really? That's all that I'm known for. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's female teammate."

He stared at her surprised by the bitterness in her tone, he shuffled closer and Sakura leaned back until her back hit one of the wooden poles. Her calf was numb underneath her thighs, but she ignored the pins and needles sensation and stared at him. He spoke with a certain sharpness that made her tilt, "Naruto and Sasuke-chan are in a league of their own. They have their own expectations to live up to. Naruto's being the Fourth's legacy—" Sakura's eyes sharpened here, but he continued nevertheless, "—And Sasuke-chan's with Itachi," his finger tapped her nose, "You can't compare yourself to them, it's not fair to yourself."

Sakura suddenly hated how _rational_ Shisui was.

She narrowed her eyebrows, "Don't patronize me, Uchiha-san. I've worked very hard to get where I am and my teammates – as stupid as they are – they need to," she struggled, "They need to—"

"Shisui," He corrected her, "It's not a sin to desire acknowledgment Sakura, it makes you human and you're right it's not fair for your team to depreciate you like that. I've only seen Sasuke-chan act like that, I would hate to see the rest of your team do that to you," he shook his head, "But you need to stop comparing yourself to them, it will hurt you more."

"Uchiha-san—"

"Shisui," He corrected again and then _looked_ at her, "Sakura."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, "Shisui- _san_ , even if that were true, I'm still not cut out for ANBU because I'm just a _medic_. Medics, despite them being highly wanted in ANBU have their—"

"—own set of protocol, I remember," Shisui nodded, "You're an offensive medic. All you have to do is pick up more ninjutsu or another skill, then you should be able to apply for ANBU."

"I _can't_."

He frowned, "Why not?"

Sakura blinked. Yes. Why not? She couldn't because she didn't have a teacher, Tsunade deemed her unteachable since she learned everything she could from her, Kakashi would never take her seriously and that was all she had. She took her time answering, "Sensei doesn't really instruct us—me. He teaches mostly Naruto and Sasuke, it's one of the reasons why I decided to spend more time at the hospital instead of with them," she frowned, "They only see me as a medic."

"What about that katana?" Shisui asked, his fingers touched the bottom of his sleeves.

"I just recently received the katana," Sakura explained, allowing her elbow to rest against the rail of the gazebo, she rested her cheek against her palm, "I only have basic training with kenjutsu."

"But you were using ninjutsu with the katana when I saw you," He pointed out.

"I was reading from a scroll," She didn't know why she felt embarrassed, then she shrugged, "I do better with theory than application," she also didn't know why she felt the need to clarify, "I'm more of a paper ninja."

"You can only learn so much from a textbook," Shisui shook his head, "You need a teacher."

"I guess," Sakura said dubiously, she was half-surprised when he didn't offer to find one for her, with the way his body language was talking, she or any female, would assume that he was going to give her a proposition, but he didn't.

Sakura couldn't figure out why she was disappointed.

—

The days drifted by slowly, Sakura's attention was divided in between the hospital and time at home with her scroll or training. She didn't see Shisui again, she assumed that he was on assignment, or something of that nature because she didn't see Sasuke or Naruto either.

One day, she decided to use a different training field – she looked at the roster – fifteen was open. Training grounds fifteen was set up quite differently, there were logs and a stream on either side of the field, not a tree in sight—which was strange.

Sakura unraveled the scroll and read her annotated notes. Unsheathing her katana, she allowed the blade to touch the ground and then swiped upwards. It was a standard defensive position, next she summoned chakra to her fingertips – part of her wondered if she could use her blade as an extension for a chakra scalpel – it was just a theory obviously, and then swung it sideways. The sting of chakra singed the grass, it blackened towards the river and steamed the water.

"But, I didn't _use_ a fire jutsu," Sakura said aloud in shock at her own blue chakra, the harder the swing, the hotter the burn, even though she didn't use a fire jutsu, when chakra and the air itself rub against each other, it created friction and the blow was hot enough to burn through the grass.

Logistics weren't going to help her here, she needed to figure out how to swing her blade faster, fast enough that an Uchiha wouldn't be able to _see_ it. She re-routed her chakra, this time she tried to visualize it like a blade, and her blade colored itself ocean—then she _swung_. It wasn't wind chakra, but the way she slashed the air forced the air in between the training ground and the river, cut the tree-tops that were at least a thousand yards away from the training ground in _half._

Sakura's eyes widened.

She _really_ needed a teacher.

Her control with her katana wasn't _great_ , she was used to her fists, using her body as a weapon, which was why her long-range combat was atrocious. If, if she was able to switch from her fists to her blade, it would help level out her abilities and she just wanted to be a little more than what she was.

"You can't approach kenjutsu the same way you approach medical ninjutsu," Shisui's voice interrupted her thinking, he flickered in front of her, he thought about it and then grinned, "Or maybe you can."

—

Shisui couldn't help but be disappointed in the way Sasuke was, in what he became, he supposed he had Itachi to blame for that, but Itachi could only do so much and the older Uchiha couldn't fault him for that. Sasuke was, in his own way, stubborn, and perhaps he had gotten that from his uncle, but he was also still stuck in his angst-teenager- _I-hate-the-world_ phase and it kind of grated his nerves.

Kakashi was a little more than disappointing, he would've thought, after fifteen years, he would've gotten rid of his martyr and ignorant ideals, but to purposefully neglect his student in favor of his two _gifted_ students?

Was he shocked, yes, but was he surprised?

No.

Shisui felt for the pink-haired medic and he couldn't fault her for growing bitter, but if she kept going in the direction that she was heading—she would find herself in a position where there was _no way_ out.

He had seen power hungry, he had seen ambition, he had seen the fracturing of minds from young shinobi driven by their own ideals and morals, but he hadn't seen neglect from their own kin and Shisui knew from years of experience, that _neglect_ leads to an even more terrifying consequence.

Shisui wouldn't admit it – not out loud anyway – but Sakura, in her own way, made him think of himself. He saw the loyalty in her, he saw discipline, but most of all, he saw _compassion_ , and compassion was a rare trait. It was stereotypical to think of medics as the only shinobi that should have compassion, just because they were _medics_ , because shinobi were still humans and he's spent enough time pondering the line between being a shinobi and being a _monster._

But Sakura had more than just compassion, she had something a lot more ruthless swimming inside her, and Shisui knew that bitterness because he had a taste of it himself.

So he gave her a test.

It was a rather simple test.

But it was _hard._

It _would_ be hard for her, for the same reason that it was hard for people who were associated with clans, Sakura had her own battles, most of which would come from her and her alone, but Shisui lived through war and there were some things you had to let go before it ate you alive.

And Sakura's battle was _hard_ because she had two powerhouses for teammates, if she didn't understand what he was hinting at, she would be swallowed by their shadow.

"Chakra control is required for all types of kenjutsu, but it's not necessarily important because of the blade itself," Sakura replied, she was somewhat surprised by his presence, "If I can use my katana as an extension of myself then—" she paused mid-way and then her lips thinned. The point of her learning kenjutsu was to balance out her fighting style, because she needed to learn long-range fighting, despite the fact that her katana is used for close-combat, combining that with elemental ninjutsu would make that fighting style long-range, therefore—

"—kura. Sakura!" Shisui's face was a little too close for comfort, he looked at her with concern, but made no move to touch her.

She blinked and shoved him a few footsteps backward, "Personal space, Uchiha-san."

" _Shisui_ ," He pressed and smiled, "Now what are you talking about? An extension?"

"I was thinking of extending my chakra as a medical scalpel to the blade," Sakura explained, she rested the tip of her katana on the ground for a moment, "But it wouldn't any sense, because a blade would cut the skin and my scalpel would disable nerves, flesh, muscle, blood, and bone. That's internal damage, blades are used for external damage."

Shisui stared at her with something akin to horror.

Sakura covered her mouth to hide a laugh, but it was strange to see someone who hailed from a clan that didn't display emotions so willingly—demonstrate his shock. Still a small chuckle left her mouth.

Shisui's lips twitched when he heard her tiny titter, "You've thought about this a lot, hm?"

"I work more with theory—"

"—than with application," He continued for her, "I remember," he looked at her again and then deliberately pointed towards his weapon, "I prefer using a tanto, but I can use a katana if I need to."

Sakura flickered her eyes to his shoulder, where the handle of tanto lay and then back to him—almost as if she were considering something.

But Shisui was patient.

He was _waiting._

"Would you mind," Sakura struggled and she struggled to complete her sentence, she didn't even look at him, part of her was afraid of rejection and she would probably always be afraid of rejection because her team had given her a lot more grief than acceptance and that made her doubt herself, "Teaching me how to use a katana, sometime?"

And Shisui _smiled._

Sakura felt something inside her stomach knot up, like rope, hard and rough, but then it melted into something like mud because it made her throat seize up, because she didn't know—she doesn't _know._

"All you had to do was ask, Sakura," He laughed a little, the edges of his voice warmer, softer, but it was still masculine at the same time.

 _Pride._

Shisui wanted Sakura wanted to swallow her pride and _ask_ for help.

He knew that she had grown confident in her abilities as the Hokage's apprentice – from which he heard from Itachi, after all, Itachi gave him a run-down on what conspired during his hiatus – but she was becoming angry and she needed to recognize herself first, her talents second.

Isolation was a punishment, not a gift.

"Of course I can teach you, but first let's get some food. I haven't had _Kyoto's_ tempura in years!" Sakura was baffled when he swung an arm around her shoulders, he was careful maneuvering her out of the field, part of her felt awkward because she didn't _know_ Shisui that well, but Shisui had no problem at all with physical contact.

"Hey, is it okay if I touch you?" Shisui paused mid-speech, more than anything, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, maybe a little because he liked seeing her annoyed, but not to the point where she would feel nervous.

It took Sakura a couple of minutes to realize that Shisui was asking for her _consent._

Never, in her twenty years of life, had anyone ever ask for her _consent_ , Naruto touched her without warning, Kakashi ruffled her hair without thinking and Sasuke sometimes grabbed when she was in danger, but that was different because she _grew_ up with them—at least it's different to her.

Shisui, who only met her maybe a week ago, asked her, not as a teammate, not as a sensei, not as a friend, but as a _man._

Sakura felt light-headed with this much awareness. She looked at him with confusion, but his touch wasn't unwelcome, because it was _comforting_ – she nearly choked at her own realization – and even though she really didn't _know_ the older Uchiha, she felt much more comfortable in his presence than she did with her _team._ Not knowing how to respond, she did what she did best, she normalized, "It's fine. You're going to have to touch me sometime if you're going to be teaching me."

Shisui stared at her with a certain intensity that made her hands itch and then he said with disapproval, "You _know_ that is not what I meant."

Sakura felt almost scolded and huffed, "It's fine," then she added in after, "Just don't be weird."

He preferred that line better because he breathed a chuckle.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Kyoko, the owner of _Kyoto's_ , greeted her when she entered the outside shop. She blinked blue eyes, looked up at the arm that was connected to her shoulder, and then she smiled rather mischievously, "A date, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura stared at her for a minute and before she could reply, Shisui opened his mouth.

"Of course," He replied cheerfully, he ignored the medic's gape and continued, "Her teammates have been hogging her too much, I decided to kidnap her—"

"Ignore him Kyoko-san," She brought her hand up to his mouth.

She giggled nonetheless, "Would you like the usual, then?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded and dragged the muffled Uchiha to a table near the corner of the room. In the back of her mind, she noticed that only until she took a seat, then he would sit as well. It wasn't a remarkable action, but it was unexpected and she realized with a small sense of sadness, that she never really was treated like _this._ This, being something she didn't know how to explain or act.

Shisui took her grimace for irritation and laughed, "Lighten up, Sakura," he removed the holster from his back and placed it to the side, "Come here, often?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "I like tempura. My idiot teammates prefer to live off ramen," she placed her hand under her chin, "I can only drink so much sodium."

" _Ichiraku_ is a Konoha staple," He reminded her, "But I realize that eating ramen repeatedly can get—"

"Boring." They finished in unison.

Shisui smiled at her chuckle, then he prompted, "This can be our spot, then."

She looked at him quizzically and repeated in question, "Our spot?"

"After training or before training or anything really," Shisui clarified, he accepted the pot of tea that came and poured her a cup, "We can come here to talk and eat, without your team or my very annoying cousin."

Sakura's heart twisted at the sentiment, as soon as she took a sip of his tea, he did too, she inquired with surprise, "Sasuke bothers you?"

"Not Sasuke," He replied, then he paused, "Well maybe Sasuke-chan too, he's gotten a bit more broody since he was a baby. I was talking about Itachi."

Sakura's mouth parted, "Itachi-san? How does he bother you?"

"The same thing really, training or eating," Shisui listed, "Sometimes we go to clan events and other times he wants me to go on missions with him," Then he sighed, "The kid really needs to get some friends."

She tried not to smile, but the twitching of her lips just made matters worse, "Why do you call him kid, if you're only five years older?"

His eyes glittered, "Because it's fun to mess with him," he sipped his tea again, "Is this jasmine?"

"Yeah," Sakura confirmed, "Green tea isn't very healthy in the middle of the day because of the caffeine. I usually opt for jasmine or white tea."

"You're not one of this health nuts, are you?"

Sakura glared at him, "We're in a _tempura_ shop."

"Point taken," Shisui laughed, "I like tempura too, but they make really good gyoza here," he turned to refill her cup and his, "We can try those next time."

"They have yakitori too and I think udon," She wrinkled her nose, "Udon kind of reminds me or ramen now."

He spoke with a knowing-edge, " _Kyoto's_ is a lot more diverse than a ramen shop."

"Obviously," She scoffed, "I mean—"

Sakura's voice came to a screeching halt when Shisui grabbed her hands and looked at her with a lot more warmth than she's used to. She didn't know if she was uncomfortable or anxious, but it was probably the latter because his thumb rubbed over her knuckles almost affectionately.

"Here's your order, Sakura-chan!" Kyoko arrived with shrimp and vegetable tempura, two bowls of miso soup, steamed pork buns, edamame, and ebi rolls. Her eyes sparkled when she glanced at their joined hands, "I'll be back with some more tea."

"You did that on purpose," Sakura accused with a flush and untangled her fingers, "What did I tell you about being weird."

" _Kyoto's_ gives a discount to couples," Shisui smiled again and she was getting real _tired_ of that smile. "And this is a lot of food for one person considering you're a regular."

She glared at him, "Are you calling me _fat_?"

He blinked and then swallowed nervously, "Of course not! How could you—"

"What do you mean discount?" She sighed deciding that this really wasn't _worth_ the trouble and snatched a shrimp from his chopsticks.

Shisui gaped when she stole his shrimp, he almost pouted, and answered her after eating an ebi roll, " _Kyoto's_ has a discount for couples, I think it's fifty percent off for any couple who eats here."

Sakura stared at him. Fifty percent off? Does he _know_ how much tempura she could eat? Before she could even think of that possibility, she asked him suspiciously, "How do I know you're not lying?"

"It's called the OTP discount," Shisui replied, "That's what they call the discount here, though I'm not sure what it means."

Sakura blanched, her previous fangirl days were coming to bite her in the ass because she actually knew what that meant and she just hoped that Shisui didn't pick up on it—

"Oh?" He made a sound of interest, onyx eyes sparkling with mischief, "So you _know_ what it means."

She could've groaned; she couldn't catch a _break._

Sakura didn't reply, she continued to stuff her mouth with tempura and hoped to ignore his pointed gaze, but when he persisted to staring, she lost her temper, "What? How _old_ are you? Twelve?"

"I'm actually twenty-nine, almost thirty," Shisui answered evenly and then he grinned, "If you were curious, all you had to do was ask."

"I might actually hit you," She scowled.

He laughed rather loudly and she hated herself because she liked the way the sound warmed her bones. He placed his hands into a defensive position and stole a shrimp, "Okay, okay. Anyway, tell me about your abilities. Medical ninjutsu, taijutsu—all of it."

Sakura sipped her soup and then summarized, "As you know I am Tsunade-sama's apprentice, so I have enhanced strength, medical ninjutsu – I'm not being arrogant here, but I am considered one of the best because Tsunade-sama is my mentor – my taijutsu is good enough for me to go toe to toe with the Mangekyo sharingan, but my stamina is lacking and I have a summoning contract. I'm a genjutsu type, but I've never had much training in that area and I don't know any elemental ninjutsu despite having two affinities, which are water and earth. My Yin seal is also almost complete and my chakra control is the ninety-ninth percentile."

Shisui's eyebrows rose, "Ninety-ninth percentile, huh?"

"It's the only thing I really pride myself in," Sakura retorted and swallowed a piece of tofu, "Besides my medical ninjutsu, that's different."

"Why is it different?"

"Medics are," She paused, "Considered a subpar shinobi. At least now. There's a sort of power play with the classifications, which is why Tsunade-sama's how she is. She could break every single bone in your body and then put it back together," she smiled at that thought, "I respect her for that, but she's also a Senju and they're in a class of their own."

Shisui's raw evaluation of Sakura was much different than he originally assumed. Sakura did know her limits, she knew what she lacked and she knew what she was good in, but she didn't know how to proceed from there, but she had a faint idea of what. She was a planning type of shinobi, a tactician. Her close combat training was ideal, so was her medical abilities, and she had enough pride to show for that, she was confident in her abilities, but she had a right to be and maybe he misjudged her because he could hear the _uncertainty_ in her voice.

Shisui didn't know what she was like when she was a Genin and frankly, he didn't really care, all he knew was that she was self-made and she had enough determination to go forward.

"Medics are probably one of the best kinds of shinobi out there," Shisui stated finishing his soup, "They give life and they can take it," he blinked, "I retract that statement, they're kind of frightening."

Sakura appreciated his effort, but sometimes the word _scary_ made her feel slightly unfeminine and how she hated hypocrisy. Taking an ebi roll she chewed, "That's basically the run-down of my abilities."

He pondered for a moment, "My affinities are lightning, fire and wind. The ninjutsu part we're going to have to start from scratch, which is not a bad a thing, it will take longer, but genjutsu and taijutsu is something we can work with," he sipped his tea and then finished, "The kenjutsu will be slowly incorporated, it's not as important as taijutsu—you need to solidify your basics first. Kenjutsu will come naturally after that."

"How are you going to teach me taijutsu?" She asked curiously.

Shisui smiled secretly, "That's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises," Sakura grumbled, looking more and more grumpy as Shisui's teeth _sparkled._

"You'll like this one," He laughed, he accepted the bill that Kyoko came with and paid with the twitch of his fingers.

She blinked, "Wait—did you? Already? You didn't have to pay for me."

"Kaa-chan always said a gentleman always pays on the first date," Shisui hummed and winked.

Sakura could have gasped if she wasn't so shocked.

"Hold on to this one Sakura-chan," Kyoko giggled and handed him the receipt, "I like him."

When she left, Sakura snatched the receipt and really did gasp, "There really _is_ a discount."

"Told you," He threw his arm around her shoulder, "I say we get the gyoza next time."

"And more shrimp tempura," She nodded more to herself, as they walked out of the shop, "An OTP discount huh, wait till Ino hears about _that_."

"What does OTP stand for anyway?" Shisui asked curiously.

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and tried to look anywhere else but at him. She could feel herself flush in mortification and ignored him. She wouldn't answer him—she would _not._

Shisui was a little surprised at her embarrassment, "Sakura?"

She glared at a faraway lamppost, shifting her attention to the poor metal light-baring technology, but then she felt the arm disappear and his presence too, then he reappeared in front of her and she almost ran into his chest. She looked up – her mistake – with incredulity.

"Tell me," Shisui was more than curious, he looked at her with soft, warm coal-colored orbs and pleaded pleasantly, "Please, Sakura."

Sakura's brain had stopped working for approximately ten seconds before she stomped on his foot and wanted to scream when he didn't even _flinch._

 _He's a masochist._

"Sakura," His voice was deeper, warmer and _oh my god_ she _hated_ him. Her stomach was twisting and she was flustered and—and there were certain things she did _not_ know how to deal with! Men and Sasuke's cousin – she slapped herself mentally – since when were they in the same _category_?

"Alright!" She caved with humiliation and swiped her face in an attempt to relax, "Just stop being so _annoying._ "

Shisui huffed and waited.

"It means one true pairing. It's a couple that balances each other perfectly and they're like a favorite to a group of people." Sakura sighed more frustrated than embarrassed, "It's an equivalent to a soulmate."

He stared at her blankly.

Sakura waited for the laughing and the disgust, but there was nothing.

Then…

Shisui sighed so melodramatically – Sakura was so stupefied that she actually snorted – and crooned, "To be a teenage girl."

Sakura punched him in the shoulder.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1: in which Sakura realizes that Shisui is not only kind, but annoying as well, but the good kind of annoying ; )**

 **footnote2: character development is always great and Shisui has a lot of space to show her what kind of person he is.**

 **footnote3: I hope I answered any pending questions.**

 **footnote4: unedited.**

 _please leave a review on your way out._


	7. with your brightness

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **with your brightness**

* * *

Shisui, Sakura began to think wryly, was something else.

He was very friendly, social, but he was quiet at times, especially around people he didn't know and he used his friends or family as a crutch to socialize with other people. He spoke with a warm tone – like the gentle heat of a fire – perhaps it was an Uchiha thing, to have that type of lithe, but she couldn't really put her finger on it—he was so _different_.

And it wasn't just because he was an Uchiha – though it might be, she wasn't _too_ sure – it was because he was different than any other man she's ever _met._ It was dangerous territory she was venturing off to, she knew this because to separate Uchiha Shisui from a shinobi, a _friend_ to the facet of a _man_ —she needed to stop this train of thought. _Right now._

"Welcome to my training grounds," Shisui introduced her to a forest, a forest that looked _vaguely_ familiar, a forest that looked like—

"Are we in the _Nara Forest_?" Sakura asked with disbelief, this wasn't _his_ training grounds and she doesn't think they were even _allowed_ to be in the forest. The area was secluded, preserved for only Nara clansmen and members of said clan, occasionally for events were outsiders ever invited, but that was it.

"Hey," He frowned at her incredulity, "I'll have you know, I own a couple acres of the Nara forest."

She looked at him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes, she inquired, "What do you mean you _own_?"

"Shikaku-senpai let me purchase some land a while back," Shisui shrugged, he took out his holster and placed it on a nearby rock, "The clan's compound is about a half-hour walk from here anyway, so it's not like I'm secluded or anything."

"But why buy land here?" Sakura frowned, "There are plenty of pieces, cheaper too I'm sure near the northern district."

"True, but I've always liked nature," He answered, he grabbed her hand and dragged her deeper into the brush. The foliage was green, very green and lush. The forest looked healthy, and there were very few deer this far out, but it's kind of peaceful.

Shisui's hand was warm, his fingers calloused from kenjutsu, and it was nice. He felt _nice._ Shisui took her deeper into the forest where it got so unbearably thick that she thought she was inhaling pine and sunlight, there were trees that were strategically cleared, producing a pathway, then it cleared, like light at the end of the tunnel. He stopped abruptly and said, "Look."

The ocean.

Sakura had no idea how Shisui managed to swindle Shikaku-sama into purchasing land this close to the sea, but she wasn't complaining. Instead of a cliff, like most of the terrain at the borders, the trees faded until it became clear that sand was at her feet and the ocean was _blue._

So blue. Like there were tiny pieces of sapphire threading the waves and salt, glittering like pieces of silver and it smelled so _clean._

"If you look close enough, you can see Kiri," Shisui pointed out, there was a faint piece of land miles and miles out at sea.

"I don't have eyes like you, Uchiha-san," Sakura rolled her eyes, but still, she couldn't help her smile.

He laughed at that and then paused abruptly. Frowning at her with dark eyes, he reminded her, " _Shisui,_ Sakura."

"Shisui-san."

Shisui sighed, "Stubborn."

"Of course," She agreed with him but did not move otherwise.

"I'm building a house here," Shisui revealed and grabbed her hand to lead her back to the forest, "It's close enough to the ocean, but a few minutes' walk back to the house. It's peaceful."

"I would hope it's peaceful," She raised a brow, "You're near the _ocean_."

Shisui chuckled, "Well there's that too, I always liked the smell of water."

"You can smell water?" Sakura stared at him funnily, then she paused, looked at him and asked him in shock, "You're building a house? You're not staying the compound?"

"No to the first question, yes to the second, and no to the third," He answered, he tilted his head, "Well to the first question, rain always smells slightly sweeter than ocean-water, I think because it soaks into the trees and flowers, and oceans are just salty, but they are distinct—"

"You're rambling," Sakura pointed out with mild surprise, "Why aren't you living in the compound? After the compound's _feast,_ I thought that…" she trailed off not knowing how to continue.

"The compound is," Shisui sighed, his hand tightened around her's and then it relaxed, "It's suffocating and it's tiring. I don't like it, I've never liked it. I only go to visit my mother and Mikoto-sama, and Sasuke-chan of course. Sometimes, Fugaku-sama, but mostly Itachi."

"The clan just allowed you to leave?" She inquired dubiously.

"Not without some fight," He shook his head, "But how are they going to fight me? After all, I've been dead for fifteen years," his lips quirked, "At least not literally. Are they going to condemn a dead man?"

"That's a morbid question," Sakura replied slowly, her fingers wiggled under his grip, but she made no move to untangle her digits, she kind of liked the weight of his hand. "So you're just going to live out here like a hermit?"

"A hermit," Shisui scoffed, the sunlight made his hair look like red-speckled milkweed, "What if I get married?"

"And drive your spouse crazy this far out?" She tried not to laugh.

"I'm sure our kids we'll fill up space."

"You want kids?"

He looked at her, "Don't you?"

Sakura refused to be flustered at that question, instead, she focused on the markings of the rocks and grass. And more dirt. "Well, yeah. Maybe later, but not now."

"How many you want?"

Green eyes widened, "Isn't that a little personal?"

He rolled his eyes, "Humor me."

"I don't know," She lied, "I never really thought about it."

Shisui stared at her blankly.

"Okay maybe I've thought about it," She rolled her eyes and they came back to their field, "I was thinking two or three, I don't really know."

"I want four or five or six," He offered immediately, "But no more than seven."

Sakura stared at him incredulously, "I bet you even have their names picked out."

"I do."

She couldn't stop her laugh, "Of course you do."

"But," He released her hand to grab his tanto from his holster, "Obviously my wife and I'll have to talk about it. What if she has a brother and his name is on my list? I don't want to name my kid after her brother—" He shuddered, "Too much family drama."

"And I'm sure you've had enough of that to last for a lifetime," Sakura huffed.

Shisui chuckled bitterly, "I'm glad you have me figured out, Sakura."

"I don't," She admitted, green eyes flickered to him and then back to her gloves, "But I will."

And it was the difference between warmth and heat. Warmth, curling and comforting, soaking into her like sunshine, and it purred like a cat, all teasing and soft, but there was heat. Heat hot enough to scorch, hot enough to burn, hot enough to have your hands covering your mouth because you just can't _breathe._

Shisui's smile was like that.

—

Sakura was panting because holy _shit,_ Shisui was _fast._ He was so fast that her brain had troubling perceiving his movements, because he was _here_ and then he was _there._ He was substituting his presence with dust rather than smoke like most people do, but Sakura's trained with Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei – though not as much as she would like – so she could keep up, but barely.

Because Shisui didn't know what personal space was, she knew what he smelt like, he smelt like fire and rain, he had the briefest hints of sandalwood, funneling chakra through her nasal pathways, she forced her brain to lock onto sandalwood – which was probably not the best idea because they were in a _forest,_ but she doubted that sandalwood grew here – he also smelt like the ocean and that wasn't helpful at _all._

Somehow, it worked, because her kunai clanged against his and she pushed him back into the trees. His back slammed into a trunk and she nearly breathed in relief because _finally_ , and then he wasn't there at all.

"Not bad," Shisui's voice was at her ear, a kunai to the neck and his hand in her pocket.

"When did you—" She was exasperated and she gave in the urge to stomp her foot like a petulant child. She groaned, "Substitution?"

"A clone actually," He chirped as the crumble beneath his feet, he removed the kunai, but still remained behind her, hand still in the pocket of her skirt. "That wasn't bad. I almost used full speed too."

"Full—?" Sakura half-shrieked, "You were _holding_ back?"

Shisui suddenly appeared in front of her and smiled kindly, "I don't usually use full-speed when I'm training. Plus I just need to assess how fast you are, going at full speed would be counterintuitive because I don't want to use my chakra unnecessarily. We still have ninjutsu to think about," Then he raised a brow, "Plus, you were holding back too."

Sakura bit out, "If I used my full-strength you'd be swimming in the ocean."

"See?" He poked her cheek, "You're fast enough to be eye to eye with the second level of the sharingan, but you _could_ be faster."

"How?" She asked slowly and rubbed her cheek.

"I'm going to teach you how to use shunshin," He grinned wickedly.

Sakura stared at him as if he were daft, she crossed her arms and retorted, "But I _know_ how to use shunshin."

"Not the way I do," Shisui hummed pleasantly.

"That was shunshin?" She said surprised, she thought it was completely different jutsu, but she shouldn't be too surprised, sometimes even the basics of jutsus can be perfected into something entirely different, "It didn't feel like shunshin, it felt like lightning."

"Ah," He looked startled, "That's more of a signature thing, I use a tiny bit of lightning ninjutsu to stun my opponents, I'm surprised you picked up on it."

"I'm sensitive to chakra."

"I remember," Shisui said softly, "But it _is_ shunshin. I figured it would be easy for you to pick it up, it requires very good chakra control," he nearly laughed at how quickly excitement touched emerald orbs, "But the timing also, you have to cut off chakra at a certain point or you'll be too slow."

"What do I do?" She tilted her head.

"Show me your shunshin," Shisui pointed to the rock in the middle of the field, "Flicker from here," he points to a spot on a tree three hundred feet away, "To there."

It took five seconds and then she appeared. It was standard, but he wanted it down to a blink of an eye, he commented, "It's textbook, you even have smoke."

"Am I not supposed to have smoke?"

"Shunshin is based on the sole purpose of disappearing, so not even a trace is left behind."

"Is it possible to not leave an imprint of chakra," She pondered, "Suppressing your chakra while cutting it off seems to contradict."

"It is," Shisui agreed, "But you have to channel chakra to a secondary pathway rather than the main branch."

Sakura's eyes brightened, it almost made sense, and then she used shunshin. Her chakra was non-existent, but instead of releasing it as she cut the chakra, she managed to shift it to a different pathway and appeared behind him, "Like that?"

 _He didn't even feel her._

His eyes widened, "How did you—?"

"There are five chakra pathways," Sakura explained, she lifted a finger, "I shifted my chakra from my main pathway to _two_ smaller pathways. I shifted my chakra—kind of like water. I suppressed my chakra into the second pathway, then shifted it to the third one to complete the shunshin and then I shifted it back to my main pathway to keep my suppression."

"But you still have the chakra?" Shisui asked slowly.

"Chakra doesn't disappear," She shook her head, "I just transferred it back, energy is always moving, the concept isn't hard, but I had to use a counter-clockwise movement, that way it doesn't knot up in my system."

"Are you telling me used shunshin without using chakra?" He questioned her in incredulity.

"Well I _did_ use chakra," Sakura scratched the back of her neck, "But it didn't deplete, I just put it back. I tried to mimic your lightning ninjutsu, but instead of physically, I used the same concept to my chakra system, that way—why are you looking at me like that?"

"Again," Shisui demanded.

Sakura used shunshin, fingers forming a tiger seal and then she emerged in front of him. Shisui couldn't feel her chakra, not even when she appeared in front of him – and she was supposed too, because you can only cut chakra so quick – his fingers jabbed her forward and she used shunshin to stand on the rock.

He stated slowly, "You're not cutting your chakra."

Sakura shook her head, "I shifted it instead, that way I don't deplete it."

Shisui really shouldn't be so surprised, after all, her chakra control was in the ninety-ninth percentile, and the last person to have that kind of control over their chakra was the first Hokage. He wanted to scratch his head with a toothpick, she got the theory down to the teeth, but the application was the difficult part.

"Alright," He rubbed his face, "I honestly didn't expect you to pick it up so fast."

Her voice sounded off, "You expected me to do bad?"

"I expected you to shunshin, but I didn't realize how good your chakra suppression was," Shisui admitted, but then he rolled his eyes, and looked at her softly, "I shouldn't be too surprised though, you're pretty amazing."

Sakura's mouth parted at the compliment, eyes blinking slowly she swallowed her flustered state and inhaling deeply she said, "It's not fast enough."

"No, it's not," He agreed and then he grinned, "We're going to get your shunshin down to a blink of an eye."

She blanched not liking the mischief flickering in charcoal orbs, it was times like these, she remembered that he was Sasuke's cousin.

"We're going to play tag."

—

Sakura was bruised, poked and prodded as she wobbled out of the Nara forest with the elder Uchiha whistling behind her. She was exasperated, she managed to fall at least thirty times, he poked her on the side, shoved her on the ground and pressed her against so many trees she was sure that she had splinters on her back, but she felt sort of full.

Shisui was _rough._

He was rough, he respected her enough to take her seriously and he wasn't without mercy, because every so often he would ask if she was okay and if she wanted to take a break. She liked that he did that. He was very considerate, but he was rough with her because she was a shinobi and knew that she could handle it.

Sakura liked playing rough.

She liked knowing he wouldn't break under her, that she could push him to his limits – or at least try – and that he wasn't adverse to getting messy. Even if she did manage to land a blow on him, he didn't complain and he didn't bitch about it. He took it in stride and kept going.

She _liked_ that.

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

"Why?" Sakura exhaled, "So they can see how many times you poked me?"

"Itachi's the one with the poking fetish," Shisui huffed and swung an arm around her shoulders, "Not me."

"I wonder where he learned it from," She grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" He gave her a squeeze, fingers sliding up to her ribs and he took great pleasure in watching her flinch at his fingers. Ever since he realized that she was ticklish from his game of _tag_ – Sakura had groaned when she understood what _tag_ meant – he took great lengths to find an opening to jab at her sides.

"Shisui-sa—N!" Sakura squeaked as his fingers dug into her ribcage, she was torn between laughing and sobbing, because she was _sensitive_.

"I'm sorry I can't _hear_ you," He hummed, his arm squeezing even tighter, fingers sliding and scraping.

"I'll break your arm, Shisui!" Sakura half-shrieked, half-laughed, she squirmed around his hold and then abruptly, he released her. The sound of her voice traveled throughout the village, civilians watched as the pink-haired medic squealed at the amorous Uchiha suitor – well at least to them – shinobi, on the other hand, were flabbergasted.

"That's right," Shisui laughed, his fingers tangling in pink hair, "It's _Shisui_."

"You're so annoying," She panted and rubbed her sides gently, "I bet you don't even do this to Sasuke."

"Sasuke-chan's not cute anymore," He reminded her, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Sakura snorted, "So you _did_ tickle him."

"When he was a toddler," Shisui hummed, "He's sensitive in the weirdest places. Like the back of his ears are super sensitive."

"His ears?" Her eyes sparkled at this new-found information.

"Blackmail looks really attractive on you," Shisui winked, he leaned closer to her and wasn't perturbed by her ignorance.

"I wasn't aware," She sniffed.

"Your witlessness is really cute, Sakura."

"I do my best," Sakura blew, then she winced at the sore spots on the back of her neck, "Just how many times did you poke me?" she took her hand and swiped the back of neck with healing chakra, moving it down her arms and under her shirt, she sighed, "Are you sure you're not a Hyuuga?"

"Cross my heart," He swore with mock-seriousness, "I may have jabbed you with chakra fingers, but that's it."

"Chakra fingers, huh?" She warned him darkly, "You better hope my shunshin doesn't become as fast as yours, or you're going to be tasting my chakra _fist._ "

"Sexy, Sakura," Shisui deadpanned, he didn't sound the least bit scared and that would have been a blow to her pride, but instead, it made her even more excited.

There was a strangled sound from behind her, she blinked and turned her head to see her teammates staring at her with a very, _very_ strange look. Then she realized how close she and Shisui were standing, inwardly she sighed, but when she made a move to put some space in between them, Shisui tossed his arm over her shoulders— _again._

"Sasuke-chan," Shisui greeted cheerfully, "Sasuke-chan's teammate."

Naruto choked, blinking rapidly, he lifted a finger and pointed at the two of them, "What are you doing with Sakura-chan, you—you _Uchiha_!"

Sasuke slapped the back of Naruto's head.

Shisui raised a brow, "Sakura and I were going to get dango."

Sakura blinked, "We were?"

"Well I thought it would be a good idea, I pushed you really hard today," He chuckled sheepishly, giving her a squeeze, he continued, "I know you wanted a turn, but I haven't had that much fun in years."

"A…turn?" The blonde sounded broken.

"Why are you holding her like that, Shisui?" Sasuke demanded, his eyes could hardly believe what he was seeing, Shisui and _Sakura_ —it was like Itachi cut his _hair_ or something.

"She smells nice," Shisui said casually.

Sakura gaped, either he was lying or he was telling the truth or he was purposefully antagonizing her idiotic teammates—she paused and cleared her throat, "That's cause you shoved me against the magnolia tree."

"I didn't hear any complaints."

"It's not like I could exactly speak," Sakura rolled her eyes, "You were suffocating me."

Naruto actually _whimpered._

Sasuke blanched.

She used a hand to cover her mouth and snickered. Her teammates could be a little too overdramatic if she had to be honest, she inhaled and didn't have to look at Shisui to know that he was amused, "Did you guys need something?"

"Sakura-chan you can't date this _Uchiha_ ," Naruto grabbed her arm and _yanked_ her towards him. The pinkette yelped at the sudden force, Shisui's fingers jabbed into the crease of the blonde's elbow and dropped his arm to slide against her waist, he rebuked him, "Naruto, don't _pull_ her like that."

"We were training, you blonde-idiot," Sakura snapped, she winced when she had to use her chakra to heal her dislocated shoulder and she swore quietly at the sting.

"Oh," He frowned, "But _why_? I thought you trained with Baa-chan."

"I finished my apprenticeship, Naruto," She scowled, "I'm a combat medic, remember?"

"Right," He didn't sound convinced.

"So you roped Shisui into training you?" Sasuke raised a brow, his mouth marring into a frown, "Isn't that a little desperate?"

 _Desperate._

Sakura inhaled deeply, her temper and frustration getting the better of her. Shisui's grip on her tightened, but she was tired and she was sad, because these were her _teammates_ , and she was just _tired._ Deciding that they _really_ weren't the trouble, she smoothened her features into a blank expression, then she turned to face Shisui and bowed her thanks, "Thank you for the lesson, Uchiha-san."

And she used shunshin without waiting for a response.

When Shisui turned to face her teammates, his sharingan _blazed_ hell-red.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1: i can't believe the lack of Shisui x Sakura fics — :|**

 **footnote2: next chapter, the ultimate apology ft a very sadistic Shisui ; )**

 **footnote3: also I need more Shisui on my blog.**

 _As always, please review._


	8. just one touch

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **just one touch**

* * *

Sakura stared at her medical textbook with distaste, despite having a rather _eventful_ day of training with Shisui, he still hadn't had her touch her katana – which is really weird because she had _asked_ him – taijutsu was his main focus with her, and she supposed she shouldn't be too confused by that after all, he was an _Uchiha._ But Shisui had made an interesting point with regards to shifting chakra to different pathways, it would be harder for other shinobi if they didn't have good control over their own chakra, still, it was a tool that she could use to minimize the amount of chakra she needed to use.

Simple things, such as movement, using chakra excessively was a bit redundant, and it's not like she had a ridiculous amount of chakra – not like Sasuke or Naruto who had a goddamn sea of chakra – she had to preserve what she could. Her teammates they were, she narrowed her eyes, _dense._ They lacked introspection and empathy, thinking with their feelings rather than their head – she would be a hypocrite if she didn't acknowledge that she also did this – but at least she _chose_ to get angry.

 _Desperate._

She wanted to _choke_ Sasuke.

Suddenly, there were three raps at her front door. Furrowing her brows, she tugged on her pale blue robe, her pajamas consisting of a thin tank top and cotton shorts. Stalking towards her door – she already knew it was Sasuke and Naruto from their chakra signatures, but knocking? They don't knock? – she opened the door and blinked in surprise.

Shisui grinned at her, he looked a little winded, but he stood at the back of her two teammates who had the nerve to look embarrassed. They were bruised and cut, limping and Sasuke – judging from that purple bruise – had a broken jaw.

"What—?" She was stupefied.

"We're sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized quietly, "We didn't mean to make you feel bad or left out. We just," he shrugged, "We just wanted you to still need us. We felt useless when you didn't need us to protect you."

Shisui nudged the back of Sasuke. _Hard_. The younger Uchiha scowled, his expression smoothening into one that was chastised, he looked at her gently—as gently as Sasuke Uchiha _could_ , "Sorry. I didn't mean it."

Sakura blinked, then she turned to look at Shisui with incredulity.

Not really understanding her look of confusion, he nudged Sasuke harder.

"I didn't mean to make you feel inadequate," Sasuke's voice was strangled as he spoke, his voice a little softer when she pressed her lips together, "Because I know how that feels," she felt her throat clench a little, "Sorry."

Sakura, could hardly wrap her head around what the hell was going on, just a few hours ago she was about to break something, regardless of how much chakra she used, and then maybe cry a little because—well, those were her _teammates._ But Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of her door _apologizing_ and they _meant_ it. She wasn't even _breathing_ , for the fear of her own breath might make her miss something in that little speech of theirs. If she didn't say something now, she might as well pass out from the lack of air. Her voice was rough, "Just—Just, get in here and sit. Let me heal you because I _know_ you won't go to the hospital."

Naruto's eyes brightened as he limped towards her couch and Sasuke followed suit, stopping only once to see if she forgave him.

Sakura turned to look back at Shisui who held two plastic bags in his hand, he smiled, "I brought take-out! I couldn't get to the tempura place so I hope gyoza and curry is okay."

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She accepted the plastic bags and motioned him inside. Placing the bags on the table, she looked over at her teammates who were already bickering, but the air was less tense, almost pleasant, she looked over at Shisui and murmured, "Thank you."

Shisui blinked.

He wasn't expecting her to thank him – maybe he was, but it was hard to read Sakura sometimes – she looked a lot sweeter than he was used to, almost bashful and he _really_ wasn't expecting the nauseating tug on his heartstrings when she smiled at quietly. His fingers twitched and suddenly, he felt overwhelmed.

He shook his head quickly – trying to rid himself of all _gentle_ thoughts, because Sakura was everything but _gentle_ – and threw his arm around her shoulder, again.

"You're welcome," Shisui smiled at her kindly, his heart still thudding in his ears.

Sakura had to bite the inside of her cheek to distract herself from the warmness of his eyes. Shrugging herself out of his hold, she walked over to her couch and healed her idiotic teammates, she asked Shisui as she set Naruto's arm, "Was it necessary to break their bones?"

"They're very thick-headed, Sakura," He replied dryly as he opened the boxes of takeout, "Plates?"

"The white cabinet above the sink," She answered and then she laughed, "They've always been like this."

"Can you stop flirting with my cousin in front of me?" Sasuke scowled as she swiped her hand down his jawline.

"Sasuke," Sakura sighed, "You don't know what _flirting_ is."

Shisui snorted and set the table.

"And you do?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Afraid I'm right?" He smirked.

"I can break your jaw and leave it," Sakura threatened him, "Do you _want_ to test me?"

Naruto walked towards the kitchen and grabbed the utensils from her drawer. The blonde paused when he caught sight of a red mug from the corner of the dishrack, it had a black heart and smiley face, "Where'd you get this mug, Sakura-chan?"

When Sakura finished with Sasuke's face, she flickered her eyes up to the red cup, she replied, "A patient gave it to me."

"It says from _your secret admirer_ ," He scowled.

Sakura took a seat at her table, quietly surprised when an arm placed a plate full of food in front of her, looking up, she watched Shisui place a pair of chopsticks in front of her and poured her a cup of water.

And it was really, _really_ hard not to smile at him.

So she settled for a hum and picked up a piece of gyoza. Her mouth salivated at the taste of buttery shrimp and lemongrass, " _Kyoto's?"_

Shisui looked at her shyly and then winked.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto pressed, "The cup."

She rolled her eyes and snatched her cup back, "Naruto, he's nine. Get over it."

"Oh."

"Is chicken curry okay?" Shisui asked, he watched her stir the food on her plate, "I wasn't sure if you liked beef or pork curry. Beef tends to run a little spicy and pork is saltier so—"

"I like chicken curry," Sakura reassured him, his rambling was kind of cute though, " _Relax_."

"I made sure they put extra pumpkin and potatoes," He smiled, "The sweetness from the Kobacha will make the curry bearable."

"You sound like you can cook."

"He can," Sasuke interjected their somewhat weird banter, his nose wrinkled at that, he took out a plate of food and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth, "His mom and my mom used to cook for most clan events."

Sakura blinked, "Your mom taught you?"

"More or less," Shisui laughed sheepishly, he took a seat next to her and scooped up a gyoza. "My mom wasn't a shinobi, she was an instructor in the hospital, so aside from cooking, the other thing that I learned from her is basic first aid," he shrugged, "She didn't like me cleaning though, I broke the stove once."

She stared, "You _broke_ the stove?"

"Excessive force."

Sakura tried to muffle her laughter, but she ended up sounding like she was choking. She quickly drank her water and replied, "I broke the oven once and almost burned down sensei's apartment."

"Sakura-chan has not been allowed to cook since then," Naruto said seriously, "Not. At. All."

Shisui laughed, he turned to look at her with glitter in his eyes, "We make quite a pair, hm?"

Sakura hid her smile beneath her glass.

—

"ANBU, huh?" Sakura wrinkled her nose, her fingers already probing the back of his elbows, testing the strength of his bones. His tattoo flexing when she lifted his arm up.

"Surprised?" Shisui quirked.

"I feel like I should be," She replied, her hand eased the muscle and then she checked his clavicle, "But I'm kind of not."

"Have you thought about ANBU?"

"Yes," Sakura answered, she shifted his bone, pressing the bone into place, "It's not like I haven't been on ANBU missions—I have, but they were usually on-call missions and I assume you know what those are like?"

Shisui nodded, "There is a shortage of medics in ANBU."

"Yeah," She scribbled something onto his chart and rolled her shoulders, "Now I need to see your sharingan."

He stared at her for a moment, then blinked, black bleeding into red, and then he said hesitantly, "No one has checked my sharingan before."

"I would assume so," Sakura said amusedly, chakra touching his temples, "After all, you've been dead for nearly fifteen years. Protocol and medicine do not stay the same—what _is_ this?"

"What?" He frowned.

"Did you—you _take out_ your eye and _put it_ back in?" She demanded aghast.

"Weren't you there for the debriefing? I thought you knew this."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she gritted her teeth, "I didn't know you—it's lopsided!"

Shisui stilled, "I put it back in wrong?"

"A _medic_ didn't put it back in?"

"I didn't exactly have enough _time_ to—"

She growled, removing her hands from his face she stomped over to the door and yelled out, "Get me some morphine in a drip bag!"

Sakura crossed her arms, turned back to look at him and huffed, "I'm going to set your eye back and you are not _allowed_ to use your sharingan for a whole _week._ If you pull a Kakashi and disappear before your final checkup, I will _remove_ you from the mission roster."

Shisui deactivated his sharingan and had the _audacity_ to chuckle, "I get it. I thought I over-used my sharingan—half-blind and all that."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, " _Shisui_."

"Yes?"

"Stop being so nonchalant about this—this is reckless!"

He rolled his eyes, his temper leaking beneath his cheerful façade, "I'm not being reckless. I'm a _shinobi_ —"

Sakura suddenly appeared in front of him, leaning over him, she punctuated her sentence with irritation, emerald eyes like ice chips, "Your life is _not_ a game. Stop treating it like one."

Shisui narrowed his eyes, "Sakura. I've been undercover for nearly fifteen years, I can't help but take my mission seriously. Even if it meant taking on other missions that are not deemed moral or have a high mortality rate. I'm a shinobi—"

"You still don't get it, do you?" She snapped, her jaw clenched with barely restrained rage, "You're not undercover anymore. You have Itachi-san, your clan, you have Sasuke and you have your friends here. Stop trying to play the role of goddamn _martyr_ , think of someone other than yourself and don't think you can use that _shinobi_ excuse with me, you Uchiha!"

His sharingan activated without his consent and his hands gripped her forearms, yanking her closer and before he could retort, "You—"

"—san, I have the morphine, would you like me to—Oh! I'm sorry," One of the nurses flushed with embarrassment, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Sakura blinked and looked down to see how close she was to Shisui's face. With him sitting on the cot, her standing in between his legs, his hands around her forearms and her hair brushing his cheeks. She purposefully bit her tongue in an attempt to clear her thoughts and ignore the fact that—that this position was _wildly_ inappropriate.

"Put the IV in," Sakura said gruffly, she removed his hands from her person and looked for some gauze in one of the cabinets, "Give him half the normal dosage."

 _Too much simplicity._

"I don't need morphine," Shisui said flatly.

Sakura didn't even turn to look at him, "I don't care."

Once the IV drip took place, she waited exactly ten minutes before starting the procedure. The nurse said that she could have another bag ready, but the pink-haired medic shook her head and said the procedure wouldn't take too long. Grabbing a silver bowl, some gauze and some antiseptic, she tossed it onto the small table.

Deciding that it would be better for him to sit up straight while she re-wired his eye, she walked closer and touched the skin around his eyes. She grimaced, "I'm going to start now," she paused, "It's going to feel a little weird."

Shisui didn't reply, he merely stared at her as her hands began to glow green, her chakra cooled the fried vessels of his eyes, and it felt like a wet pop. Her fingers gauged into his socket and she placed his eyeball into the silver bowl. Quickly, she used the gauze to soak up the extra blood, and poured chakra into his empty socket. Sakura tried to heal most of the damaged vessels within the pathway, the nerves wiring up to his brain and then back to his temple. When she placed his eye back in, the world flickered in color.

"Close your eyes."

Shisui's lashes fluttered under her hands, her palms tickled underneath and she itched to scratch them. Sakura poured chakra into her fingertips, concentrating on the frayed fibers, like ice she encased them and cooled the inflammation. The nerves that ran up his brain were the most damaged, unsurprisingly. She didn't ask him to activate his sharingan again, she needed his deactivated form to heal first before she decided to really dig into his eyes.

"Okay," She inhaled slightly winded, she didn't remove her healing chakra from his temples, "Open your eyes slowly.

The elder Uchiha's eyes were so dark, like magma when it cooled, charcoal and soot. It wasn't a true black, but it was heavy and thick. She counted his eyelashes and settled her chakra deeper into him one last time. Clearing her throat, she moved back slightly and asked him, "How does it feel?"

Shisui couldn't quite remember a time when his vision was so clear, it was precise and he _blinked_. He focused his eyes on the medic in front of her and he was struck by how _green_ her eyes were. They were clear and lively, but somehow they burned him—like she was never meant to be anything but _burning._ Burning and breathing, an untouchable flame, that flickered like a match. Lashes dark as rose and lips raw, chapped and bitten. Her hair was pink—pink as a pearl and maybe he was disappointed, disappointed in himself because he didn't realize that Sakura was really, _really_ pretty.

Shisui didn't answer, instead, his fingers traced the sensitive skin of her bottom lip, fascinated with the way her blood seemed to follow the drag of his finger.

Sakura pulled back and resisted the urge to lick her lips at the tingly sensation his finger. She breathed unevenly, "I think that's enough morphine for you."

She unhooked the IV and washed her hands that were sticky with his dried blood. She didn't understand why her heartbeat was _ringing_ in her ears nor the fact that her mouth was dry—maybe she was nervous, did Shisui make her nervous? Maybe a little. She wasn't used to whatever the hell _that_ was, she dried her hands and turned to look back at him.

"I'm just going to give you a quick scan," Sakura said swiftly, she swiped over his forehead checking for any chakra burns or tears—quickly metabolizing the morphine out of his system.

"You have a mole," He said suddenly, his eyes slid over her face and it was like he was touching her but he _wasn't_ , he continued "Right under your lip."

She blinked, "I do?"

"It's very small," Shisui answered softly, "A freckle."

"I see."

It was getting weird, she realized with bafflement. A freckle. Either his eyes were really good or he was just being _Shisui._ Though, Shisui wasn't really – she wanted to rip her hair out – she didn't really understand Shisui, because every time she thought she had him down, he shattered her perception with the grace of a cat and then some.

"No eye strain for a week," Sakura ordered, she crossed her arms under her chest, "Absolutely none. I can get you a prescription for a pair of glasses for reading, but absolutely _no_ sharingan. You need your natural eyes to heal first before activating your dojutsu."

Shisui nodded slowly, but still, he remained on the cot, just watching her. She shifted uneasily underneath the scrutiny of his gaze, she inquired with a sharp edge to match her tone, "What?"

His voice heavy with honesty, "You're really pretty."

And it was _unreasonable_ how quick her heart leapt in her throat. Sure, she was used to the occasional flirt, the indifferent lingers and the teasing of her teammates, but for someone, who wasn't a teammate, or a colleague, or someone she associated herself with—for someone to genuinely tell her this and _mean_ it—!

"Well I would hope that I'm not ugly," She said breezily, though there was a small hitch in her voice from the absurdity of it all.

Shisui frowned, "What will it take for you to accept a compliment?"

He wasn't playing fair. Her stomach was queasy, _it's not fair_ how a few words and quiet look could make her feel like a twelve-year old again. Like everything was brand new, like she had no experience with boys and how everything became so _new_ with him. She felt nervous and hot all over.

"I just don't get compliments," She shrugged, she tried to brazen it out as best as she could, but she can't help the way her hands shook underneath her chest, "Surely you could understand."

But Shisui didn't understand and he admitted so, "I don't."

And Sakura, Sakura didn't have an answer for that. She looked over his chart, wrote something else on the bottom of the clipboard, then she pulled out another piece of paper jotted something down and handed it to him, "Here, give it to Sora-san in optometry on the third floor. Your glasses should be ready by tomorrow."

She was deflecting and he knew it.

Shisui stood up slowly, she watched him warily, he was a good two heads taller than her, her nose barely brushing his collarbone, she took a step back to get some distance – she was pretty sure her heart was having palpitations – she wasn't sure what to do. She inhaled deeply, attempting to relax her muscles and she already regretted it because _he_ was all that she could smell.

"When should I come for the final check-up?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden question, "Friday."

Shisui nodded slowly, his eyes raked her form slowly and _really_ , what was she _supposed_ to do? He said, "Sakura."

She could feel it, it was a trap—it was the foundations of a trap. His voice was svelte, sweet and it was _calling_ her— _luring_ her and she _hated_ herself for responding, "Yeah?"

Shisui's finger found its way back to her bottom lip, his thumb this time, it rubbed over the protruding flesh slowly, affectionately and he asked gently, "Will I being seeing you soon?"

And _fuck_ him for being so considerate and _rational_.

Sakura nodded, hands heavy.

He smiled crookedly, tapped her lips suggestively and disappeared.

She was _doomed._

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1** : YOU. MAKE. ME. FEEL. LIKE. A. TEENAGE DREAM.

 **footnote2** : No, but seriously. He's just _wow._ Shisui seriously has so many faces, I'm seriously upset at the lack of character development for him in fics.

 **footnote3:** Ultimatum Shisui? Also unedited.

 _As always, please review._


	9. hopeless longing

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **hopeless longing**

* * *

"Why are you sulking?" Ino asked with a raised brow, she paused mid-swipe, deep red nail polish glittering from the bristles.

Sakura was _not_ sulking, she was _moping_ , "Because Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei and my _replacement_ ," her lips dripped with sarcasm, "Are on a mission that was given based on my intel from the Suna mission!"

"So?"

"So I should've gone!" Sakura growled, rolling over onto her stomach she sighed, "What was Tsunade-sama _thinking_?"

"That the boys should handle it while you take over the hospital?" Ino quipped she assessed her fingernails once before grabbing a clear coat from the bottom of her desk.

"I mean I can't even get mad because my _replacement_ was one of ROOT's shinobi," She scowled, "He's a conditioned soldier, so I feel bad. I mean— _ugh_."

Ino paused and then frowned, "Tsunade-sama is employing more and more ROOT shinobi on regular missions. I remember Tou-chan said something about assimilation."

"Yeah," Sakura blew a strand of hair that lay against her lips, "Tsunade-sama wants to de-condition them. It's a work in progress, so I can't be too mad."

"Have you met him?"

"My replacement?"

"Yeah."

She shook her head, "No, they left before I could say goodbye."

Ino frowned at that. Surely it couldn't be _that_ bad that they had to practically run out of the village unless something had happened yesterday and Sakura refused to speak to her teammates about. That something, being so _awkward_ and uncomfortable that she couldn't bear to talk to her teammates. "What happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday?"

The blonde scowled annoyed with having to repeat herself, "Yesterday. What did you do?"

"I was training and then I had dinner with Naruto and Sasuke."

Sakura had forgotten just _who_ she was speaking to, her father worked in T&I and if there was one thing Ino knew, it was when Sakura was _lying._ She sniffed for a trail and then snapped her jaw, "What happened with Shisui-san?"

Sakura stiffened.

And Ino _smiled._

"Well?"

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, she didn't want to lie to her best friend, but she also was _not_ in the mood to talk about what had transpired yesterday and the hospital or this _morning._ So she waited.

Ino raised a brow.

She groaned, "I trained with Shisui yesterday."

Blue eyes blinked harmlessly, "Oh?"

But there was nothing _harmless_ about Yamanaka Ino.

"We trained," Sakura pressed, "Then we were going to get dango after I practically limped out of the training field and then we ran into Naruto and Sasuke."

Ino grimaced.

"And you _know_ how Naruto and Sasuke talk," She frowned, "Recklessly, stupidly. Just like—"

"—boys. Yeah," She sighed, "I know."

"So I don't know what happened after because I left," Sakura explained, she grabbed a champagne-color nail polish, "But Shisui, Naruto and Sasuke both showed up at my apartment an hour later all bruised and injured. Shisui bought dinner and I can only assume that he beat the hell out of my teammates," her lips twitched, "So I can't really complain."

"Beating up your teammates for disrespecting you?" Ino quirked a brow, "Where can I get an Uchiha Shisui?"

But it was the slight flicker in Sakura's eyes that made Ino's claws sharpen, she breathed, "What did he _do_?"

And Sakura folded like a house of cards.

Ino sat at the foot of her bed, nails wet and ears twitchy as her best friend told her tale. She added in hand gestures, huffs of breaths and flushing—Sakura was _flushing._ She was _flustered._

So Ino, she lifted a perfectly manicured nail, and accentuated, "You lucky bitch."

—

Going to Ino was a bad idea, Sakura soon realized, because now, the only thing she could think of, was Shisui. She wanted to talk to Ino about this—whatever this was because it's only been a couple days since she started seeing Shisui regularly. She blinked rapidly—seeing as in she was _seeing_ him, visually, she tried to remind herself or maybe she was just trying to convince herself.

It had to be the morphine.

It _was_ the morphine.

It was the _only_ explanation.

Still, Ino just made her think about him _more_ and she didn't want to over-analyze his every move or word or breath.

Sakura shook her head and groaned. She should pick up a few more shifts at the hospital, but first thing's first—she wanted her goddam _tempura._ Swinging by _Kyoto's_ – she subtly chakra swept the shop and was relieved to not feel an Uchiha within her tempura-loving vicinity – then she mentally slapped herself, because she was _not_ hiding, she was just being cautious.

 _Cautious._

"Sakura-chan!" Kyoko greeted her with a bright smile, she wiped her hands with a nearby dishtowel, "You're early. We're still packing the bag."

She blinked, "Early? What are you talking about? Packing?"

"Ah yes, your order," She rummaged behind the counter, grabbing a plastic bag, "I was surprised though. You never usually order lunch ahead of time, usually you order when you get here," she placed the Tupperware and some napkins into the bag, "Here you go!"

Sakura stared at the bag that was shoved into her arms, "But I didn't—"

"And I must say," Kyoko went on, she blinked her dazedly and giggled, "I think it's so _cute_ for Shisui-san to buy you lunch. I know you work very hard at the hospital Sakura-chan, so please eat and keep up your strength!"

Green eyes were wide with disbelief.

How did Shisui even know that she was going to come to _Kyoto's_ for lunch? How did he know what to order?—why did _he_ buy her lunch? She could've scratched her brain with a toothpick and she still wouldn't have come up with an answer. She numbly accepted the bag and walked toward the hospital. She hasn't seen Shisui since this morning—which was _weird_.

It was weird because, she didn't know where he disappeared to, after his little _dispute_ this morning, she went straight to Ino's and then to _Kyoto's._ Now she was going back to the hospital to do an extra round and then she would do some late grocery shopping—anything to remove Shisui from her brain.

—

"Do you feel cold, at all?" Sakura asked Shin, her patient, he was roughly seven years old and he swung his legs as she moved the stethoscope over his back.

"Sometimes," His voice was scratchy, "And sometimes I fall asleep when Kaa-chan talks to me."

The pink-haired medic nodded and scribbled something on her chart. She turned to look at Shin's mother with a tired smile, "He's fine. Just the flu, make sure he drinks lots of water and rests a lot. I sent a prescription down the pharmacy downstairs, just follow the directions on the bottle and he'll be fine in a few days."

"Thank you, Haruno-san."

The day went by slowly and Sakura began to feel antsy mid-way through her shift. She could've ripped her hair out of her scalp—what was _wrong_ with her? She was acting all broody—hell, she was acting like _Sasuke._ She wanted to run and she wanted relief. She felt on edge, like something—something was missing or something was aching.

She was _miserable._

Soon, there was an ANBU squad wheeling into the ER and well, she thought morbidly, at least it was something she can focus on. She assessed: a few broken ribs, punctured lungs, and a shattered femur. Chakra glowing and head clearing, Sakura healed.

Sometime between four and five did she finally leave the hospital. She wasn't exhausted, but she wasn't restless and that had to count for something. Maybe she needed to drain her reserves a little to keep the itch from spreading, it was kind of irritating to keep herself settled.

Sakura grabbed a handbasket from the open market stall and walked over to the produce section. Grabbing a half dozen apples, she tossed it into a plastic bag and placed it into her basket. She was torn between buying jasmine rice and short-grain rice, frowning, she decided to pick the jasmine type instead.

It was cheaper.

"I thought you couldn't cook," Shisui's voice was sudden, bright, but it was deep enough to send a cold waft of air down her spine.

She flinched, the handbasket jostling in her hand and she spun around abruptly. Eyes wide, she blurted out, "What?"

He glanced down at her handbasket and repeated his statement patiently, "I thought you couldn't cook."

Sakura stared and then she looked down to her grocery basket, she exhaled exasperatedly, "Oh. That. Well, I can cook _some_ things," she rolled her eyes, "Naruto likes to exaggerate."

Shisui smiled nonetheless, he swiftly took hold of her grocery basket in one hand and maneuvered her to the meat section, "So you're going to make dinner?"

"I was going to attempt to," She said slowly as she watched him hold her basket and skimmed down the aisles. She rolled her eyes, she scanned the rows of meat and she decided on some pork and chicken, "I was thinking udon."

"Udon?" He looked thoughtful and nodded at her selections of meat when she placed the two parcels into the basket, "Are you going to use tofu or mushrooms?"

Sakura looked a little thrown at the randomness of the conversation, she chewed her bottom lip, it sounded like she was asking a question "Both?"

Shisui nodded, "That's good. I like spinach in mine."

"And I thought _I_ was the health nut."

He laughed at that, "You don't like putting vegetables in soup?"

She shook her head, "I prefer simplicity when it comes to soups."

"Like miso?"

"Probably one of the best kinds of soup," She replied, she grabbed a pack of silken tofu in the soy aisle, "Plus it's easy to make."

"I'm sure that's why it's the best," Shisui teased her, his fingers ran up the threads of her medic vest before ruffling her hair.

Sakura rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "I'm not _that_ bad."

She crouched low to grab some green onions from the brown basket next to the ginger and garlic section. The aromatics hung near the floor of the vegetable aisle. Her fingers combed through green, long strands before she decided on a good handful and when she stood up, she nearly gasped when her nose brushed his.

She hadn't realized that Shisui stood so close to her. He smelled like sunshine and rainwater and something earthy, it made her dizzy and warm. She blinked rapidly, she dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand to distract herself and then asked quickly, "Where are your glasses?"

Shisui blinked slowly, long lashes brushing his cheeks and his hand subtly tightened over the handle of her grocery basket, "What?"

"Your glasses," Sakura used anger as a diversion towards her attraction – her sudden revelation towards her own feelings was brain-stopping and _fuck_ her life she was attracted to Uchiha Shisui – for him, because, for her sanity and her own mental health, she needed to _focus_ , "Why aren't you wearing them?"

"I picked it up an hour ago," He answered easily, "It's in my pocket."

She spoke slowly, as if he were a child, "So. Put it on."

"Well," Shisui lifted the grocery basket in front of her as if she didn't have a ten-pound bag of rice, various vegetables and meat in it, the other hand held her delicate bag of herbs, "I kind of have my hands full."

"I _can_ carry my groceries," Sakura pointed out.

He smiled knowingly, "I know."

Sakura, half-serious, half-exasperated, wished that he would stop smiling at her because her stomach felt like it was going to drop to her knees. She sighed instead, "Which pocket?"

Shisui quirked a brow in quiet surprise and then his eyes glinted with mischief, he nudged his left leg out, "This one."

She tried to ignore how intimate it was to shove her hand into his pocket, how the hard muscle of his thigh flexed against her cloth-covered fingertips, how her hair brushed the bottom of his shirt, how the heat of his abdomen radiated against her cheek, she bit her tongue and pulled out a thin case. Opening the case, she opened the thick, black-rimmed square glasses and carefully placed them onto his face. Her fingers took their time tucking the malleable plastic behind his ears, the frames resting gently on his high cheekbones, thumb brushing his cheek absently and she asked, "How's it feel?"

Shisui blinked at the sudden clarity, it wasn't like how it was earlier, somehow his vision felt sharper and Sakura seemed brighter, "Perfect," he looked at her deliberately then, "Really perfect."

Sakura felt somewhere inside her curl and burn, then she cleared her throat, "You need to use your glasses for at least five hours a day, if not more. I know I said that they are for reading, but you can still use them."

He nodded in acceptance.

She shifted her attention to her grocery basket and decided she needed some flour to make the fried chicken. Grabbing a half a pound of flour she made her way to check out, "I got it from here, Shisui."

Shisui raised a brow as she rummaged in her pouch for her wallet, "Who's going to carry your bags back to your place?"

"I can bench press, you, my teammates and Itachi-san altogether without breaking a sweat," Sakura deadpanned and paid the cashier, "I'm sure I can manage a few bags."

He frowned and decided to press, just a little, "I don't think you understand."

Sakura blinked and then scowled as she grabbed her bags, "Alright then, I _don't_ understand. What are you trying to say?"

Shisui grabbed her grocery bags with one arm, a bag resting in between his elbow crease, one in the palm of his hand, and then he used his free hand to hold her's. He pulled her close, even as they walked out of the open market, through the village path, they walked hand in hand, and then he asked softly, "Do you understand now?"

And Sakura could hardly hear him, not with her heart beating in her ears like that.

—

"Sakura, I said slice. Not _mince_ ," Shisui huffed a chuckle as he watched her chop the mushrooms into well, dust.

"What's the difference?" Sakura grumbled, she was a medic. She chopped organs and sliced blood vessels, so why was this so _hard_?

She tried not to flinch when warm hands engulfed hers, it was like a scene out of a shoujo manga if she had to compare _this_ to something – she tried not to snort with incredulity – his fingers pressed her hands downwards, he rolled the mushroom over and demonstrated long cuts, he commanded, "Like this. Pretend it's a fish."

Sakura stared at him as he walked in front of the counter and took a seat. He watched her with dark eyes, black frames glinting from the overhead light, she was baffled, "Like fish?"

"When you started medical ninjutsu, didn't use a fish?"

"How did _you_ know that?" She narrowed her eyebrows.

"I did the same thing," He nodded, "I only know basic ninjutsu—anyway, slice the mushroom as if it was a fish, you don't want it too small, you want the mushroom to float."

Sakura hesitated, then she cut a small sliver of the mushroom, her hand was shaking, but it was easier, her control was distorted because she was trying to ignore the fact that Shisui was watching her like a goddamn _hawk._ As if his presence wasn't nerve-wracking enough, being subjected to his focus made her spine stiffen into steel and her nerves all jumpy. She paused, "Did I do it?"

Shisui leaned over the counter and laughed, "Yeah. I told you, you just need practice."

Sakura's shoulders slumped in relief, "I'm not very good at this."

"So you've told me," He replied and grabbed the green onions, "Now, cut these diagonally."

She muttered something colorful underneath her breath and followed his orders carefully. After she slowly prepared the ingredients, placed the herbs in small bowls, grabbed the necessary tools, she took a seat at the counter and watched Shisui pour oil into the pot.

"I think frying chicken is too much for a beginner like you," He said lightly, "I'll fry the chicken and you can watch."

She glared, "You're patronizing me."

"Teasing, Sakura," Shisui emphasized amusedly, "Teasing."

Sakura huffed, "Where did you learn medical ninjutsu?"

He grabbed the seasoned chicken from the sink, dredged the meat in egg, flour and then breadcrumbs, he replied, "My mom."

She furrowed her brows, "I thought your mom wasn't a shinobi."

"She's not," Shisui nodded and placed the meat in the oil, "But she did know medical ninjutsu, just the basic one—mystic palm I think? And the other one you use to set bones? I can't remember all the names."

"So," Sakura started slowly, "You can heal yourself?"

"Only basic cuts and gashes," He wrinkled his nose, "Anything deeper than a fingernail and wider than a palm I can't heal."

"I could teach you," She offered.

Shisui looked up after turning the chicken breasts with a pair of chopsticks, his eyebrows raised and breathed a chuckle, "And miss you healing me? I think not."

Sakura refused to flush, she bit the inside of her cheek and retorted, "I can teach you how to heal superficial wounds. If you're in the field it could save your life."

"I appreciate the offer Sakura," He said humbly, "But my chakra control isn't _that_ good."

"So says your shunshin,"

Shisui rolled his eyes, "Shunshin is a D-rank jutsu, I just," he paused, "Perfected it."

"Humble too," Sakura grimaced and settled into her chair, "Fine. I won't push you."

"Don't look at me like that," He frowned, taking out the chicken out of the oil, he set the meat on a plate lined with paper towel, "I mean it. Medical ninjutsu is a lot harder than people think. My chakra control is great, but it's not in the _ninety-ninth_ percentile."

Green eyes glittered, "Are you saying my chakra control is better than yours?"

"You know it is," Shisui scoffed and placed more meat into the oil, "Why should I argue with a fact?"

"Now you're just trying to flatter me," Sakura retorted, her ears burning, but her smile was pleasant. She felt relatively better than she did all day, him leaving this morning left her feeling buoyant, like she was oddly out of place, and she was not _mooning_ over him. She paused, she _wasn't._ She was just antsy because she didn't know where she stood with him and it was the fucking _morphine—_ not him.

It couldn't be him.

"I don't need to flatter you," Shisui said suddenly, a pair of chopsticks holding a piece of fried chicken appeared in front of her, he motioned for her to open her mouth and continued, "I can just feed you."

She hesitated for the briefest of seconds before she opened her mouth and accepted the chicken. Part of her was internally screaming because she was allowing Shisui to _feed_ her. She chewed the meat carefully and hummed, "It's good."

"Not too salty?"

Sakura shook her head, "Nope."

"That's a relief," He exhaled, taking a scoop of soybean paste, he stirred the spoon in the water, "Miso paste is usually salty, so I try not to use too much soy sauce and since you're having fried chicken on the side and using pork in the soup," his lips wrinkled, "I can only do so much."

She laughed, "You're like a housewife."

"That was sexist, Sakura."

"Househusband?" She tried and laughed again when Shisui threw the towel at her and continued to fry the chicken, "By the way, I have spinach in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator if you want to make a salad or something."

Shisui's eyes widened and he asked uncertainly, "You want me to stay for dinner?"

Sakura frowned, "Of course. I can't eat all this food by myself."

"We only made two things: soup, chicken," He rationalized and then added, "There are those riceballs from yesterday."

"You're staying for dinner Shisui," She said firmly.

Shisui wrinkled his nose cutely, took his chopsticks and popped a piece of chicken in her mouth. He commented lightly, "You're so bossy."

She was going to retaliate and then she yelped. The piece of chicken he force-fed her was _hot_ , the oil on the chicken was still piping, she fanned her mouth, eyes watering, her tongue felt heavy as she squeaked, "Hot—hot!"

Shisui swore quietly as he stumbled towards her, strong fingers cupped her jaw, he squeezed her cheeks gently and blew into her mouth, he apologized in between blows, "Sorry, sorry—I forgot these came straight out of the pot."

Sakura was hardly able to breathe with the way he held her, her eyes wide with wonder as his nose brushed her's, he blew into her mouth, trying to ease the pain, his mouth was puckered and for a second, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Shisui's lips were pink, a soft petal pink and they made the strangest shape as he exhaled air into her mouth. The chicken wasn't burning now, but she was sure her tongue was numb from the pain of it all and she swallowed the small piece without bothering to chew. It went down roughly, but Sakura did not take her eyes off him.

She blinked slowly as he flickered his eyes up to her, her mouth was closed now, and her eyes glossy—from unshed tears or from his proximity, he didn't know. His hands still rested underneath her jaw, slowly, his thumb ran the fine line of her jawbone down to the round curve of her cheek.

Shisui breathed gently, his hands soft on her face and his eyes warm as the sun, "Sorry."

He didn't move.

Sakura couldn't find words to speak, not even as their food burned in the pot beside them, but she liked the way he held her, the way he smelled, the way he looked at her and so she said, just as quietly, "Yeah."

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1: am I satisfied with this chapter? Idk.**

 **Footnote2: addressing the questions from my tumblr – yes you can send me requests, though I can't guarantee I can write all of them.**

 **footnote3: i've decided to take a chance to write a more serious fic it's called _the nearest star_ – shameless self-promoting lol – there isn't Shisui, but there is Shī if you know what I mean ; ) **

**footnote4: also I found a picture of Shisui with glasses and just. I reblogged it. but pls. it's not fair to be that attractive.**

 _please leave a review on your way out._


	10. always be kind

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **always be kind**

* * *

Sakura remembered the first time she went on a mission with Shisui.

They were in Yuga and it was raining.

Sakura was wet.

Normally, she would've decided to open her mouth and purposefully complain to Shisui, to deliberately provoke him and see that stupid smile of his, but she didn't, because somehow this felt different.

The world felt darker and the skies were grayer.

"We can set up camp in this cave," Shisui said, his fingers pointed towards the edge of the forest, the terrain wasn't mountainous, but it was uneven, even the soil was loose beneath their feet.

Inhaling was slightly constricting, the humidity was thick and engulfed her senses like a wet blanket, she had asked as soon as they were settled in front of a warm fire, "Are you going to tell me what our mission is?"

He shrugged and poked the wood with a long stick, "Assassination."

Sakura looked at him incredulously, "Assassination missions are assigned to ANBU."

Shisui just pointed to himself a-matter-of-factly.

She rolled her eyes and clarified, "They are _solo_ missions."

He hummed in agreement and took a seat next to her, "Generally they are, but the details of this mission require a lot more discretion."

She furrowed her brows, "What does that mean?"

Truthfully, Shisui didn't want to tell her the details.

Tsunade had summoned him mid-morning, he left his breakfast half-eaten with Itachi and made his way to the Hokage tower. It went something like this:

"Hokage-sama," Shisui had greeted her with a bow.

"Shisui," Tsunade looked tired, her fingers grabbed the white scroll from the corner of her desk and tossed it to him, she sounded apologetic, "I really didn't want to send you out in the field until you've recovered from your last _strenuous_ mission," she elucidated, "That includes your mental health, but you are probably the only Uchiha I know that's stealthier than Itachi."

Shisui wasn't sure to feel flattered or humbled by her consideration for him, maybe it was because she was a medical ninja and she understood, or perhaps, she felt guilty that part of his life was sacrificed for the good of the village, still, he waited, "Hokage-sama?"

"It's an A-ranked assassination mission, usually I would classify this as an S-rank considering that this requires ANBU level skills, but," she thinned her lips, "I have to declassify it because I'm sending you with Sakura."

He stilled, "Declassify?"

"Sakura is not a part of ANBU," Tsunade stated bluntly, "And we have a very low number of medics in ANBU, you're going to need a medic for this mission, because _she's_ going to do the assassination, and you have to protect her."

"Wouldn't it be better to send a team?"

"Discretion is key," she replied, amber orbs hardened, "The target is Takashi Hito, he's a human trafficker for the Akatsuki. There have been rumors of him recruiting hired muscle for the group, it's in a small village on the border of Kumo and because of the fragile political…relationship Konoha has with them, it's imperative that never know that we were involved."

Shisui immediately picked up, "You want him to die of natural causes."

" _Natural_ being the keyword," Tsunade affirmed.

Shisui wasn't sure he was comfortable allowing Sakura to do the assassination, killing was clinical – which was probably why Sakura was a good candidate for ANBU – he didn't want to subject her to that sort of thing while he was there. He didn't want it to become a necessity for her. He didn't like killing, he preferred escort and espionage missions. He felt a little less human when he was forced to kill.

 _The intent to kill_ was a disassociating tactic, it was meant to scare genin and academy children, but it was so very real when you were in the field, because it was kill or be killed.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts, "Our target is Takashi Hito and he has ties to the Akatsuki," Shisui explained, "We have to make it look like he died of natural causes because his base is in Kumo."

Sakura nodded at the political reasoning, "I assume I'm going to do the assassination?"

His lips thinned at her question, "Yes, but I would understand if you do not want to."

She blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"As a medic I know it's not easy to take lives," Shisui stated blandly, so blandly that his tone could've been taken for casual or nonchalant.

Sakura could hardly believe what she was hearing, "Why would I have a problem with killing?"

For a second, words had failed him. Part of him didn't want to consider that scenario – her raining in blood, drenched to the teeth in crimson and her jeweled-colored orbs glazing over – it made him _sick_. The loss of innocence, part of him mourned for it, for himself, for Itachi, but _never_ Sakura, he never wanted to see Sakura become jaded, because Sakura reminded him of all the good that was _left_ in the world. Call it selfish, but he wanted to shield her from it.

"I don't know," he replied confused by his own emotions, perhaps, he was feeling protective over her and maybe it was clouding his judgment. He didn't like the way she made him second guess things, actions for one, his plans and then his thoughts.

"I can do it, Shisui," Sakura confirmed his hesitation, her eyes were hard—her fists tightened.

And he _certainly_ didn't like the conviction in her voice.

From Yuga to Kumo was a three days journey – passing through Shimogakure wasn't exactly a pleasant experience – Sakura hated the cold, sure the snow was pretty from a distance, but her nose was frozen and she's pretty sure the end of her hair had some icicles forming. Kumo for one wasn't as cold as Shimo, but the air was drier and the wind was sharper.

"There's an inn near the market," Shisui told her, his hand found its way to her lower back – more of a cover type of suggestion – he continued, "I can't guarantee a hot meal until we have the perimeter set."

She nodded, "Anywhere is fine."

Sakura trusted Shisui with her life and that trust didn't come so easily. He was Sasuke's cousin first of all and that was enough to keep her own her toes, but regardless of his intimidating shinobi reputation, Shisui was warm and charming, and that was dangerous. To be lulled into such a state of false security, that was terrifying on its own and she didn't have that type of strength to deflect once she was secured.

But if he _did_ mean it…

"One room, please," Shisui requested politely, his hand rested gently on his partner's shoulder.

The old lady smiled knowingly and gave the duo a key. Their cover was never discussed, Shisui's attentiveness was enough of an answer. The inn was not extravagant, it was a basic type of bed and breakfast, meant for sleep and the occasional meal. It was a one bedroom with an open bath, a toilet and sink hiding behind a slide indoor and a small closet.

"I'll set up a perimeter, would you like anything in particular for dinner?" Shisui asked thoughtfully.

Sakura furrowed her brows at the request, "Have you been here before?"

He blinked at that, "A couple times. They make really good stew."

"Then we can have that," She shrugged, opening up her pack, she grabbed a simple yukata, switching her sandals for slippers, "I'm not really picky. We should scout the area."

"I'll be back in ten, then," He said quietly and used shunshin to disappear.

Sakura took that window of opportunity to take a swift shower, the shower curtain hung around a square, the bathtub knee-deep, she wouldn't have felt too bad if there was a door for privacy, but with the curtain being the only item that gave her privacy, she couldn't help but finish just as quickly.

Shisui, Sakura thought certainly, was acting differently. She supposed it was because they were on a mission, he was much more pensive and more Uchiha-like – so to speak – a real shinobi, and she wasn't really sure how to feel about it.

—

The assassination was quite frankly, simple. Sakura had infiltrated the compound, chakra suppressed to the bone and using her new and improved shunshin, she managed to slip past their defenses and slide into the corner of his study. Shisui was directing her from the rooftop, his fingers trailing the blueprints and his eyes sharingan-red. He spoke in hushed tones into his mic, his chakra a muted charcoal and instructed her to move just as quietly.

Sakura waited until he was in his chair before she used the blunt edge of her hand to quickly knock out Hito. Shisui cast a large scale genjutsu to immerse the presence of her chakra into an interwoven fabric of energy because once she summoned chakra into her hands, she was a living target. Pouring chakra into the bruise, she healed all superficial and internal wounds. She only had thirty seconds before his consciousness started to prickle.

Pushing chakra into his chest, she managed to mimic a heart attack, medical interest took place as she watched his body fade into a pallor, deeming him lifeless, she grabbed as much intel – battle plans, papers, scrolls, books, and diagrams – as possible and shoved them into her medic pouch.

"Regroup in thirty," Sakura murmured into her mic, she flickered to the window and disappeared into the darkness.

Shisui met her half-way in the forest, she nodded towards him and he spoke first, "Done?"

"Done."

He nodded and they ran out of Kumo like death was at their door.

—

Now, they were back in the cave.

"I don't want to say it," Sakura frowned, she poked the fire this time, "But this mission was kind of easy."

Shisui laughed and it wasn't a pleasant sound. It was harsh, sharp and more importantly, tired. "Assassinations are usually messy, bloody and the body count tends to be a lot more."

"Did you do a lot of assassination missions?" She asked part of her wasn't sure if she wanted an answer.

"I did," He nodded, "I didn't want to, but it was for Konoha."

 _For Konoha._

Sakura watched him for a little bit, she didn't need an explanation because somehow she _knew_. She _knew_ him and maybe, she could've had a bit more tact when she asked bluntly, "Did you ever go to therapy for your PTSD?"

Shisui stiffened.

Sakura winced at her senselessness, she could've been a bit more sensitive, she softened her tone and spoke honestly, "I don't know how long you were in ANBU, I don't know what they made you do, I don't know how to deal with loss, I don't know a lot of things about you," she paused, eyes kind, "But, I know suffering and I know how it can eat you from the inside out. You don't have to tell me anything, just as long as you know that you aren't alone."

She didn't look at him after that nor did she bother to wait for a reply, instead she took out her scroll and began to read from it. She felt herself twist nervously at the silence, because what was she supposed to say now? Had she spoken out of bounds? Did she say something wrong? She didn't know how to brazen the situation out, maybe if she ignored it, the tension in her would disappear.

But the tension didn't disappear.

The tension got tighter when Shisui got up and took a seat next to her.

Shisui didn't say anything and Sakura was grateful for that.

Shisui was born in a war-torn era, he was forced to kill, to take life at such a young age, he was a pacifist, and he didn't—he couldn't let go of those horrors even if he tried and maybe, Sakura never _really_ knew him at all.

She was blessed to be born in an era of peace or what looked like peace – silent warring was always confused her – she wasn't forced to become jaded, she grew up at her own pace and had freedom at her fingertips. As a medic, Sakura had to become acquainted with death, it wasn't something she could ignore and it wasn't something she could stop. She had to learn to cope or the pressure would eat her alive.

But Shisui never learned to cope, he took that pain with him and carried it on his shoulders.

And it hurt Sakura to think that he believed that it was necessary for him to carry that burden.

Even as he sat next to her, his legs brushing her's, he fell asleep, his head resting against the wall, and she watched as the nightmares plagued him. They were quiet tremors, silent with the stuttering taps of his breathing, they were experienced nightmares – she shuffled closer to him – not knowing what or how to help him without pushing the lines of professionalisms, she pressed herself closer to him, so that he could feel that she was there, even in his unconscious state—it was enough.

It wasn't easy, but it was enough.

The warmth of her body relaxed him and his head dropped down to her shoulder.

Sakura exhaled gently.

When it came to Shisui, nothing was easy.

 _Nothing._

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1** : a little shorter this time.

 **footnote2:** I estimated this fic to be like fifty chaps?

 _As always, please review._


	11. shake the clouds

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —sakura/shisui**

 **X**

* * *

 **shake the clouds**

* * *

"Sakura-chan," Naruto pouted, his chopsticks poked his tempura with dismay, "We could've totally gotten ramen."

"It's way too hot to get ramen," she huffed, "You _know_ that."

"It's never too hot to eat ramen!" he exclaimed.

"Inside voices, dobe," Sasuke scowled and chewed his riceballs with a barely restrained irritation.

Sakura sighed, normally, she wouldn't grab lunch with her teammates because her hospital shifts take up most of her time and with her training with Shisui, she wasn't exactly in the most pleasant of moods, but Tsunade had given her the day off due to the new genin infiltration on the lower level. Ironically enough, flu season was always the slowest season, shinobi who managed to catch the flu is taken off the mission roster and cannot be cleared until a physical is done by a chunin-level medic or a medic of higher rank. The newly released genin are given the task of diagnosing and treating the flu—she remembered her first time going through a throw of patients, she nearly ripped her hair out. Some patients just wanted _attention._

"How's the hospital?"

"Slow," she answered, "It's flu season, so there are vaccinations and diagnosis happening on the lower level. Thankfully, the new batch of genin who is specializing in medical ninjutsu just graduated, so they're raking that entire floor. We haven't had many high-rank missions out in the field recently, so things have been pretty slow."

"What about ANBU?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked at him strangely, she shook her head quickly, "Nothing. If there were Shizune-sempai is taking care of it."

"So you're off?" Naruto frowned.

"Shizune-sempai isn't a combat-medic," she answered blandly, "At least not anymore, but I am," she rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately I can't spend _all_ my time in the hospital, I have to train too."

"But I haven't seen you at the training grounds," Sasuke said slowly.

"My sparring partner doesn't train there," she replied vaguely, she chewed on her yakitori before grabbing an edamame."

"Who is your sparring partner?" Naruto asked suspiciously, he leaned over to her side of her table with faux deviousness, he narrowed his eyes, "Is it Shisui?"

"Is what Shisui?" Shisui appeared out of thin air – Sakura sighed exasperatedly – because he _did_ appear out of thin air, he shoved himself next to her, she shifted over in the booth, her elbow brushing the wall of the eatery.

"Sparring partner—"

"Why are you so close—"

Naruto and Sasuke interjected at the same time, they looked at each other and scowled. The blonde spoke first, "Why are you so touchy with Sakura-chan?"

"She smells nice," Shisui smiled, he ruffled her hair obnoxiously and stole his cousin's riceball.

"Please don't say these things out _loud_ ," Sakura said warily.

"Why not?"

"Because you sound like a pervert," To her surprise, it was Sasuke that jabbed back, a frown marring his face and rested his chopsticks on his bowl.

"But Sakura likes it," he winked at her.

She yanked on his cheek, a flush forming on her face, she grounded out, "We are in _public_."

He rubbed his cheek, "So, it's okay if it's in private?"

Naruto choked on his gyoza.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "What are you doing here?"

Shisui blinked at first, throwing an arm over her shoulder, he yanked her closer and asked, "Wait—first I want to know how did you know this was my _second_ favorite restaurant?"

"Sasuke chose this place," Sakura said expectantly and wrinkled her nose, "I should've known this was an _Uchiha_ place."

Part of her wasn't sure how to act around Shisui – he was making her question everything around her – which wasn't exactly the best thing to do, especially since she was around her idiotic teammates. She decided that her exasperation was the best weapon, she could seem annoyed with him, but really she was more annoyed with herself.

"An Uchiha place?"

"An Uchiha favorite," she corrected.

Shisui hummed at that and Naruto looked faintly confused at the sudden softness on his face. Almost as if he were considering his dislikes and likes, his fingers tapping lightly against her bicep absentmindedly before his eyes sparkled, and snagged a piece of her tempura. He replied, "It's my mother's favorite. She likes the custard here."

Sakura blinked, her voice tinged with a soft edge, "Custard?"

"No," Sasuke said immediately, he furrowed his brows, "We already ordered enough tempura."

"You shouldn't deny a lady food, Sasuke-chan," Shisui frowned.

He snorted, "Where's the lady?"

Sakura threw her chopsticks at his face.

Shisui got the custard to go.

—

"Kunai only," Shisui announced, his fingers digging into his back pouch, "I want to see how fast you've gotten."

"It's only been two weeks," she pointed out.

"I've been on a mission," he explained, and almost pouted, "Don't tell me you haven't trained since I left."

"Of course I've been training," she said sourly, "Did you just think I'd sit around and wait for you to come back."

Shisui ignored the jab and continued, "With your chakra control I'm sure you have gotten, much, _much_ faster."

"Such confidence,"

He continued as if she hadn't spoken, "I believe in you."

And maybe it was the way that Shisui said it or the way he looked at her when he said it like he genuinely believed in her. Her stomach tightened into a ball of nerves, she had never—she had never had someone say something to her so _sincerely_ as if he _really_ did believe in her and it affected her way more than it should've.

Sakura didn't say anything to that, she grabbed her kunai from her pouch and looked at him.

He looked at her and that was all the warning she needed.

While Sakura was practicing her shunshin, she noticed that even though she shifted her chakra back to her pathways, she left a chakra trail, it was very faint obviously, but it's not like she could simply suppress her chakra while preforming shunshin — it was impossible. Just like using any regular type of jutsu, suppressing chakra while using it was not possible. The sharingan could obviously read movements, perceive chakra inputs—they were a clan of cheaters, to be honest.

If she left a chakra trail – doing her best to cut and clean her chakra to her movements – she could only imagine what Shisui's chakra trail would look like.

Sakura wasn't not an Uchiha nor a Hyuuga, but when she channeled chakra into her eyes she could see his _chakra trails._

People, by default, have similar fighting styles, they tend to use the same type of attack more than once. It wasn't like the Byakugan where she could see his chakra and discern clones from the real thing—she couldn't do that, but chakras have color – just like when she used medical ninjutsu – and when they move, they leave a trail behind.

Because Shisui was so fast, she wasn't sure where he would strike first, but channeling chakra into her eyes allowed her to see his chakra trail and where there was moving chakra—there was Shisui.

Sakura's kunai clanged with Shisui as she shoved him backward and used shunshin.

If Shisui was impressed, he didn't vocally express his surprise.

Sakura's speed _had_ increased, it increased so much that Shisui had to use his sharingan to keep up with her movements, her speed was still blurry to his eyes, but it was enough to keep him on his toes. He wondered what it would be like if he used full-speed, her posture was laxed much to his irritation, as if she was _expecting_ him to come at her from that angle—the quiet quirk of her lips was something that made the tip of his tongue sting in exhilaration.

He decided to push.

Shisui's movements began to increase, Sakura barely had enough time to shunshin out of the way, she flipped over mid-air and flickered over to him. One hand on his shoulder as her kunai clanged against him in a sideways blow, she cursed internally at his speed, it was making her nervous.

His chakra trails began to distort, they were overlaying each other, it was by sheer awareness from his body heat that she managed to figure out where he was and where he was coming.

Sakura didn't like the way she felt, being hunted like this, so she decided the next time her kunai clashed with his, she'd snap it with her bare hands or do something as equally as destructive.

Leaping into the trees, she used the foliage as a vantage point, her eyes scrutinizing the environment, the scattered trees, tangled with random branches made his speed a fraction slower, but it was slow enough that she could distinguish where his chakra trails began and where they continued. Using shunshin, she decided to attack first, her fingers tightened against her kunai, she came to the left of his body, then flickered to the right back to the left and then she attacked him in the front. Physically, Sakura was stronger than Shisui, even without chakra, she managed to strike his kunai hard enough that it fell out of his hand.

Shisui blinked his eyes, a hell-red and stared at where his kunai landed, "What the _hell_?"

"You were giving me a headache," Came Sakura's justifiable answer, she rubbed her forehead in explanation, "I only had two weeks to practice."

"Sakura," Shisui started with exasperation, he usually refrained from saying her name aloud anyway – it seemed a little _too intimate_ , to him at least – he usually caught her attention with an arm around her shoulder, a hair ruffle or something of physical contact, this time her stomach warmed at the sound, "I was using my _sharingan._ "

She jumped back to the clearing and asked almost as if she didn't _know_ what that meant, "Is that good?"

He sputtered as he followed her, grabbing his kunai that embedded itself deeply into a nearby tree branch, he stood not far from her in the clearing, "I had to use my sharingan because you were just _that_ fast."

She wrinkled her nose, "Really? I thought I was still slow."

Shisui stared at her with irritation.

Sakura laughed at his annoyance, she was being daft on purpose he noticed, "Relax, I know. But I wasn't sure if I was that fast, shunshin is easy to learn, but to have it down _that_ fast takes time. I thought I didn't really improve."

"We haven't trained together in two weeks," Shisui pressed, "Have you trained with anyone else?"

"No."

"Then you haven't tested your shunshin against them, so obviously you would think you're slow," He explained and then ran his hand through his hair, he exclaimed, "You haven't tested it against someone other than me!"

"I was going to train with Sasuke," she scowled, "But he's not my favorite person to train with."

Shisui stared and then grinned, "So, I'm your favorite Uchiha?"

"No," she huffed, and maybe she _was_ denying it, but she wouldn't say anything.

He really did pout this time, "Then who?"

"Mikoto-sama," Sakura answered immediately, her eyes glittered, "Her riceballs are one of the few things that get her first place."

"So, hypothetically," Shisui started, he walked closer to her, "If _I_ were to make those riceballs," he circled her, "Would I get first place?"

She stared at him, "Hypothetically speaking, yes. But right now, you're above Sasuke, but beneath Itachi-san."

He recoiled, "Itachi is above _me_?"

Sakura nodded sagely, "He's a model patient when he lands himself in the hospital and he's always on time for his appointments."

"You're just trying to get back at me from my last appointment."

"You put your eyeball back in," she paused to emphasized dramatically, "By _yourself_! I don't know how much you know about sanitation and contamination, but you broke at _least_ ten rules!"

"Only ten?"

Sakura scowled.

Deciding that this was the best time for a break, Shisui threw his arm around her shoulder and walked over to their rock. Taking a seat on one side of the flat stone, he brought his feet up to rest on the other side where she sat. He pulled out the desert from one of the plastic bags and asked, "Custard?"

Her expression smoothened into one of excitement and she nodded.

Lifting the lid off the box, he pulled out two spoons from the bag and tossed them to her. When the clouds began to overcast in the clearing, the leaves started to overturn, the wind started to curl against his feet, he covered the custard with the lid, grabbed the small pieces of wood from the back of the rock and tossed them in a circle in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Sakura frowned.

"I'm going to teach you a jutsu before I caramelize the custard," He said simply and using a ram hand-sign, he activated a low-level fire jutsu to start a fire on the pile of wood.

"Caramelize—" she paused at the sudden heat, "What jutsu?"

"I'm going to give you the hand signs," Shisui explained, his sharingan flickered a couple times before he deactivated it, "Imagine an upside down bowl if you will."

She stared.

"And if you mess this up, the custard will be ruined," He added in, already amused at the slight horror etched onto her face, "Ready?"

Sakura nodded.

"Snake, rat, dragon and then dog," Shisui commanded, his eyes bled red as he watched her chakra input, "Now use your chakra and cover us like a blanket."

Water evaporated from her fingertips, effervescing into bubbles as they melted over the two of them, it was a dome of thinly veiled water, it covered them in a defensive position and it held as long as chakra was stable. It was somewhat pretty, she mused, The water was clear, flexible almost, and it became a barrier to the outside world.

"Good," he praised her softly, "It's a little thinner than I expected, but we can work with your chakra output later."

"Why isn't the smoke…" she trailed off bemused.

"This water dome is permeable from the inside, so the smoke can escape, but outside, the dome is practically impenetrable," Shisui clarified, "Well almost."

"But what was the point of using a water dome in the middle of—" Sakura cut herself off when she realized that it started to rain, water running down the dome, distorting the colors of the sky and the few glimpses of the sun, her eyes widened, "How did you—"

"I spent a lot of time traveling," He replied dryly.

"Oh," she didn't know what to say to that.

Shisui grabbed the tray of custard and removed the lid again. Bringing the tray to his mouth, he inhaled deeply, fire burning his stomach, chakra coating his breath and gently he blew against the sweet. Air so hot, that burned with a fiery lick, the sugar burning, wafting throughout the dome and when it crackled he stopped. He smiled when he saw the sugar melted into one of a glassy and shiny texture. "Spoon?"

She handed him one and watched him with wide eyes.

"You have to tap the custard with the back of your spoon," He demonstrated, the small piece of metal cracking the coat of sugar messily and he scooted closer until his knees were leaning against her's, "That way the sugar gets into the cream."

Sakura followed suit, scooped up a spoonful and plopped the sweet into her mouth. She was in awe of the crunchy, sticky, thick texture of the sugar, the creaminess of the milk and faint crackle of the almonds. She almost moaned, "Oh my _god_ , how did I ever go so _long_ without this?"

Shisui chuckled at her wonder, "It always tastes better when it's fresh out of the oven. I haven't had these in _years_."

"I think I may dump _Kyoto's_ after this," Sakura admitted shamelessly as she scooped another spoonful.

His lips curled, "What about our OTP discount?"

She licked the back of her spoon, "Worth it."

He laughed lightly and watched the water pour beneath them. Sakura didn't mind eating from one plate, the custard was just _that_ good, but she wondered if this were Naruto or Sasuke, would she have minded? Sasuke hated sweets, but Naruto would eat _anything._

"Kaa-chan used to get me one of these for my birthday every year," Shisui confessed abruptly, he cracked a piece of sugar.

"Lucky brat," She scoffed and shoved a towering spoonful into her mouth, "I always got a vanilla cake, with lots of frosting and flowers, but this custard is so much better. I can't believe Sasuke was hiding this from me. Ass."

"Sasuke-chan doesn't like sweets."

Emerald eyes sharpened, "But _Itachi-san_ does."

"I should pick up another one for him then," Shisui picked up on that note quickly, he said more to himself than to her, "He's been on missions non-stop since Suna."

"You're a good cousin," Sakura said suddenly, she wondered at her teammates, "Taking care of your family like that, I wish some of your consideration would rub off on Sasuke."

His nose wrinkled at that because he hadn't realized how prickly his younger cousin was, "Sasuke-chan needs to learn some humility first, don't you think?"

Sakura shrugged and swallowed another mouthful of cream.

"I should've listened to Kakashi-sempai when he said you had a sweet tooth," Shisui commented merrily when he watched her scoop another spoonful of custard.

"Sensei?" she furrowed her brows, " _Senpai_?"

"I knew Kakashi-senpai when I was in ANBU, he became my contact because I was more familiar with him," he shrugged scraping the crust off the pan, "He was on my last mission."

"Yes, well," Sakura grimaced, "He has a funny way of expressing his…everything."

"That's a mild way of putting it."

"With sensei, you never know."

The water pouring over the dome-like glass and the fire warm by her ankles. She sat quietly, watched the dome while her chakra hummed and ate her custard. Shisui continued amusedly, "He said you like _dango and mochi and ice cream and_ —"

"Yes, I like sugar," she narrowed her eyes at him and she punctuated with her spoon, "But so do you."

Shisui wiped the corner of her mouth with his thumb, his eyes glimmered and answered quietly, "Maybe a little."

And it continued to rain.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** training progresses.

 **footnote2:** Shisui and I are three days apart, we libras are just full of dreams ~

 **footnote3:** slower updates bc exams :(((((

 _as always, please review_


	12. pull me down

**on still water**

 **by whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **.**

* * *

 **pull me down**

* * *

"Deidara is dead," Tsunade stated with a certainty frostiness that made the fine hair on her shinobi stand on edge, "As well as Kisame."

Kakashi stared, surely he hadn't been that out of touch, it's only been three weeks since he was last in the village, his mouth burned when he asked, "Who—?"

"Sasuke and Itachi," She answered, her eyes had taken on a grim light, she continued, "Itachi has a mild case of chakra exhaustion, Sasuke has third-degree burns and a shattered leg."

It was like someone took a piece of cotton and swabbed his mouth clean. The Akatsuki names were dropping out of the bingo books like flies, but somehow, it looked like it was too easy. For all the rumors that had been spread about the organization like wildfire, it seemed sort of pathetic, the copy-nin was perplexed— _this,_ was the terrorist group that was frolicking around extracting the tailed-beasts?

Preposterous.

"How many are left?"

"We have identified two more members, Hidan and Kakuza," Tsunade replied, her fingers tapped her desk, "They were last seen in Yugakure."

"But we aren't sure how many members there are, are we?" Gemna interjected suddenly.

"I think there are ten," Sakura mused aloud, her eyes glancing out the window as if she were deep in thought, but really, she was trying to wrap her around the fact that three of the Akatsuki members were indisposed. Suddenly, she was aware of the various pairs of eyes on her, and she turned her head to face the lot.

"Ten?" Tsunade stared at her.

"It's just an assumption," She swallowed, mentally cursing herself for not being attentive.

"Why ten?" Kakashi looked at her strangely.

"Well aren't there ten-tailed beasts?" Sakura pointed out, she crossed her arms, and then shrugged, "If the Akatsuki are hunting the tailed-beasts and there are ten of them, shouldn't there be ten members?"

Ultimately, it was just an overall hypothesis. She had no evidence to back it up other than what was already said, but there couldn't be that many shinobi that powerful and if there were, all of the elemental countries should list them off—shinobi that have gone rogue and shinobi that were far too powerful to ignore, dead or alive.

Tsunade could only look pensive.

—

"Sakura-san," Itachi's voice called out to her in the midst of her tempura run.

"Itachi-san," Sakura blinked at his sudden appearance. She and the ANBU commander were on speaking terms, professionally and unprofessionally, a little more than acquaintances, but a little less than friends. As the head-medic and Fugaku's stubbornness, she was the only medic allowed to treat his son other than Shizune and the Hokage herself. She would like to think they were friendly, but Itachi has always been a little…odd.

"I—" he paused, eyebrows furrowing, "Would you like some tea?"

She blinked again.

 _What?_

"I'm sorry?" she looked bemused.

"Tea?" Itachi looked uncertain, "There's a dango shop nearby, I would like to ask you something."

Bizarre.

This situation was far too bizarre for someone like her to understand, mostly, because this was _exactly_ how she and Shisui started talking—well, not _exactly_ , but it was close enough. First, it was tempura, then he was charming his way into the sparring grounds, and now she couldn't get _rid_ of him.

Not that she _wanted_ to, though she wouldn't admit it.

So, stupidly, she said, "Lead the way."

If Sakura was going to be bombarded with Uchihas, she might as well link her hands with the prettiest ones.

Itachi led them to a very familiar teashop, vaguely, she could remember the beginnings of their unofficial mission: _see-underneath-Kakashi-sensei's mask,_ which was dubbed as _operation ramen._

Even the wooden benches were the same.

"So," As soon as Sakura ordered her usual dango, both goma and chichi, she turned to look at Sasuke's brother, "What did you want to ask?"

"How did you know there were ten members?" Itachi asked suddenly and poured her a cup of tea.

His manners reminded her a lot of Shisui. Sakura couldn't remember seeing him or Itachi in the Hokage Tower when Tsunade began to debrief them unless they were deployed outside the tower as security, then they would've heard what they were saying regardless.

"It was just a hunch," she replied defensively. It was just an observation, it wasn't like she had confirmation that there _are_ ten members in the Akatsuki, not unless…

"I received confirmation that there are ten members," Itachi explained, he sipped his tea, "I relayed this information to Hokage-sama about my findings an hour before the debriefing."

Sakura's mouth parted, her voice much softer than she intended, "I was right?"

He nodded.

She furrowed her brows, "Isn't this confidential information? Why are you telling me—"

"Hokage-sama wanted me to keep you in the loop," Itachi's lips twitched, "As the first person to destroy one of them, I thought you would have more insight."

Sakura wouldn't let it show, but she was flattered by Itachi's faith in her. She smiled her thanks when the plate of dango arrived in front of her, she started on her goma stick first, inhaling deeply she began slowly, "I think that it has something to do with the rings?"

Itachi's eyes sharpened, "Rings?"

"Did you take the rings when you and Sasuke…" she trailed off.

"The Hokage has them sealed,"

Sakura stared at him, her mouth twitching at the corners, deliberately, she tilted her head and hooked a finger underneath the silver chain around her neck, she said almost mischievously, "Not all of them."

Sasori's ring hung around her throat like a war trophy.

Itachi took a bite of his dango and tried not to seem too interested, but with the time she had spent with Sasuke – and Shisui – she could see the faint glimmers of amusement, "What do you think?"

"Sakura thinks too much," Shisui – how does he _find_ her, she will never know – interjected, chakra quietly humming from the remains of his shunshin, he grabbed her chichi stick and chewed, "It's what gets her in trouble."

Sakura glared, "That was _mine_."

"Sharing is caring."

"But I _don't_ care."

Itachi stared at his cousin who was quite literally snuggled up to the pink-haired medic. When had he— _where_ did he? For a moment, Itachi was a loss for words. His cousin was known for being the most friendly of Uchihas, but he was certainly _not_ the most trusting. Shisui smiled with his shoulders raised and cared with his heart on his sleeves, but trust—trust was something earned, and it was so very odd that Sakura – because Shisui was reinstated just three or was it five weeks ago? – had gotten a hold on him.

"What are you doing with Sakura, Itachi?" Shisui asked him _as if he didn't know_ what Itachi was thinking and maybe it was the tone of his voice that had his younger cousin reeling.

"What are you doing with Sakura-san, Shisui?" Itachi replied back just as casually, he raised a brow at the sudden change in tension.

Sakura, who did not like to be in the middle, interrupted their very strange Uchiha-like game, "We're having dango, Shisui."

"I can see that,"

"You mean eat," she huffed.

Shisui winked.

"We're discussing some things," Itachi clarified, his fingers twitched.

He raised a brow, "Ring things, hm?"

Sakura stared at him with incredulity.

Shisui looked at her with a hint of perceptiveness, he poured a cup of tea for himself and then for her—blatantly ignoring his younger cousin. He sipped quietly and hummed, "Hokage-sama is giving me two hours."

"Two hours?"

"Before I receive clearance for the rings Sasuke and you brought back as confirmation," he explained, tilting his head, he elaborated, "Something about paperwork?"

Sakura sighed, she didn't like his tone, because it sounded almost accusatory, "Alright—what is it?"

"What is what?"

"If you know," she pressed, lips thinning at their game, she didn't like where this was going, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you," he frowned.

"But we're meeting later?"

Itachi, who was staring at the two of them like they were something more than a puzzle, but less than a problem, he picked up his last stick of dango, as if it's the only thing left to ground him, he asked blankly, "Shisui, how do you know Sakura-san?"

"That's actually a long story," Shisui chuckled, he threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a good squeeze, "We train together, eat dinner and all that jazz."

"Shisui is terrible with genjutsu," Sakura deadpanned.

The older Uchiha looked betrayed, "I am _not_!"

"He's really bad at it," she explained to the Uchiha heir, sipping her tea she continued, "He can dispel it easily, but casting it…"

Itachi's lips quirked, he hadn't expected Shisui to indirectly accept her shrewd observation, but what he most certainly didn't expect was for Shisui's fingers to trail up the back of her neck and tangle in her hair. He felt his mouth uncharacteristically dry, as he watched his cousin's blunt nails press and drag down the back of her scalp in a strangely sensual scrape.

"Your hair is longer," Shisui commented lightly, his eyes hot like coals.

"That's what happens when you don't cut it," Sakura quipped, she wouldn't admit how nice it felt for his fingers to weave into her hair, but still her hands shook against her cup, "Anyway, Itachi-san. I don't have anything solid, but the kanji of the rings look like something from Ame."

"Rain country?" Itachi asked, eyes sharpening.

"It's a dialect," she explained, her eyes glazed over when Shisui's fingers ran over a practically sensitive patch of skin behind her ear and Itachi had the audacity to flinch.

Voyeuristic, that's what it had felt like.

Itachi nodded feeling a lot more uncomfortable than he would like to admit, he flickered his eyes over to his cousin who had a hint of a smirk on his face and then he felt himself still at the implications.

Shisui was doing this on _purpose._

For what reason?

He didn't know.

But he did, the rational part of him, the more masculine, dominant part of him spoke—it whispered to him with gravel.

 _It was a warning._

.

Shisui didn't know what on earth possessed him to stake his claim in front of Itachi – his _claim_? Where the hell was he? The _warring era_? – but when Sakura had told him that Itachi was her second favorite Uchiha, something insecure, something fragile, something apprehensive in him shook and he needed to do something—more for himself, than for Itachi, to show that Sakura—Sakura was someone to him.

It was a moment of weakness.

But Shisui couldn't bring himself to care.

Itachi was his cousin, yes, that much was true, but he watched the way his cousin looked at her with a certain type of fondness, a certain type of kindness that he had yet to see Itachi give someone other than him or Sasuke. Maybe it was the Uchiha curse, the possessive, silent type of longing that edged in his blood, curling against his flesh, it itched at him and something in him vulnerable trembled at the thought of her.

Shisui had always been self-sacrificing, wasn't it time he became a little selfish?

"I'm tired," Sakura threw herself on the ground, uncaring for the way the grass rubbed against her skin, the rough edges of stone scraping her skin. She felt drained for some reason, restless, maybe a little sad or perhaps, she was just exhausted.

"We barely trained," Shisui pointed out as he took a seat next to her, his brows furrowed at her sudden attitude. She looked miserable for some reason and it grated on his nerves.

"I know," She said in a quiet voice, she rolled over onto her back, "I know."

Shisui had never seen this part of Sakura before, granted he only knew her for a month and five days – when had he gotten so sentimental? _God_. – but sometimes he just forgot himself when he's with her, it was like he's known her for years and that she was just someone that had become routine. Like she was always here and that she would always _be_ here.

Sakura was in that place where tired met frustration and then a full-on meld with weariness.

Shisui stood up, leaned over her, trailed his hands up her hips, then he lifted her and tossed her over his shoulder.

Stupefied by the entire situation, Sakura could only gape stupidly at his swift movements her forehead brushing his lower back, then he was using shunshin – she didn't even have enough time to yell at him for his manhandling – and they were at the beach.

"What—?" Sakura couldn't even come up with a plausible question.

Shisui turned to her, fingers hooking underneath his shirt, slipping off his sandals and then removed his pants.

"Why are you stripping?" She squeaked, her eyes widened and she couldn't find it in her to look away.

He grinned and disappeared into the water.

Sakura stared at him, "Wha—"

"Don't make me come and get you, Sakura," Shisui warned her playfully, his eyes glinting mischievously – she wondered if it really _was_ a warning – the muscles of his shoulders visible to the sun and her eyes.

Sakura had to thank her lucky stars that she wore a sports bra and not bindings today. Unzipping her vest, shrugging off her skirt, unbuckling her boots, and slipping off her tights—she used shunshin to stop Shisui from staring at her any longer, not that she minded, of course.

She squealed at the suddenness of the sea, her body trembling at the roughness, "It's cold!"

Shisui threw his head back and laughed, his teeth white, "You have to duck your head under!"

"I don't want to!"

Shisui, however, didn't take no for an answer, he lunged towards her, hands out and fingers ready. She eluded his grabby hands with shunshin and flickered to the side of him. He blinked at the suddenness of her movements and decided that if she really _wanted_ to play tag, who was he to deny her?

He smirked.

Shisui's eyes glinted red and he _moved._

Shunshin was a dizzying pattern of cutting and maneuvering chakra into your body. They subbed the air with dust, with salt and the droplets of water that beaded against their skin. Shisui played with her a cat would toy with a mouse, and when she laughed at his somewhat sloppy attack, he decided it was time to get serious. He paused deliberately in his movements - just enough to throw her off - then he grabbed her, arms around her like steel, and pulled her down under—with him.

Sakura was _beautiful_ in the water.

That was his first thought, he watched her, mesmerized by the colors of her. Hair pink, that darkened into a true magenta in the cobalt of the ocean—when a forest bled into a beach, the water was darker, colder and clearer than that of a real beach. Her eyes were like sea-foam, skin like satin and she was _warm._ So warm that he could feel the heat reverberate in his bones, like the gentle trickling of rain on the back of his spine, and it coiled in his stomach _dizzyingly._

Shisui had also realized, a little too slowly for his liking, that he hadn't given her enough time to warn her of his sudden plan for submerging.

She was _drowning._

Shisui didn't think, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

—

Shisui's lips were warm and chapped, even with the water as a buffer. His arms never left the sweet indent of her waist, skin on skin, and the roughness of his fingertips made her squirm against him. He pried her mouth open, oxygen, so sweet, so heady, so _intimate,_ it made her toes curl in the thickness of the water and she nearly keened when his tongue licked the roof of her mouth.

He was kissing her.

He was _really kissing_ her.

The heel of his palm pressed into the dip of her lower back, she was pressed so tightly against him, she was sure that she would _never_ forget the way he felt molded against her. Her hair floating like a halo of silk around them, her hands dug into his shoulders, fingers raking down the back of his neck, her head spinning with the taste of him and if she was drowning—

—she would gladly drown in him.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** um yeah idk what happened lol

 **footnote2:** Shisui has made a decision obviously, even if he's not even aware of it.

 **footnote3:** are exams over? lmao, not even close.

 **footnote4:** unedited, also, I caved, it's m rated now.

 _as always, please review_


	13. lean against me

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "just you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **lean against me**

* * *

Sakura felt like she was being swallowed in Shisui's long-sleeved shirt, his pants swallowing her ankles and toes. She hadn't realized just how _tall_ Shisui was, he was as tall as Kakashi-sensei, but bulkier than Sasuke. His clothing hung over her like a wet towel. Giving her hair a once over rake in the bathroom, she walked over to the living room where Shisui was pouring tea.

"You don't have anything," Sakura paused as she took a seat in front of the table, "Smaller?"

Shisui turned his head to look at her, he blinked a few times before chuckling, "You're swimming in them."

She huffed and began to roll up the end of his pants above her ankles, intent on seeing her toes, "It's not my fault you're a giant."

"I'm not _that_ tall."

"You're taller than Kakashi-sensei," Sakura pointed out and accepted the tea in front of her.

"His hair gives him the extra inches, Sakura," Shisui chuckled.

She shook her head.

The pitter patter of the rain was quiet, it drizzled, water falling gently on the foliage around his house and seeped into the grass. The inside of Shisui's home faintly reminded her of the Uchiha compound, the way the hallways seemed to twist and the flooring remained that of wood. The difference was that there was no second floor, only a ground floor that extended into rooms and living areas.

It smelled like pine and jasmine.

"How long have you lived here?" Sakura asked curiously, her toes dug into the fluffy carpet. She had seen what his house looked like, but she never actually went inside. She didn't have the courage to ask him and moreover, she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"A month."

"Ah," she breathed and commented awkwardly, "It's nice. Here."

Shisui leaned against the back of his couch, placing his teacup on the table, he shrugged, "It's quiet."

"It's been raining a lot lately," Sakura said off-handedly. She attempted to make small talk. Why? She didn't _know._ It wasn't like she felt uneasy with Shisui, because she wasn't, but it's—he _kissed_ her. And she kissed him back. She didn't—she wasn't sure _how_ to act, it's not like he said anything about it or acted any different after. Sitting on his living room floor with a cup of tea, with his clothes on as the rain fluttered around the house, alone, she wasn't sure _what_ to do.

"Fall is coming," he said looking out the window, "It always rains this time of year."

Maybe it was the _way_ he said it, but Sakura could pick up a double meaning between those words.

"If you say so," Sakura replied slowly, bringing a hand to the back of her neck, she swiped her hair to the side so her damp hair wouldn't soak her nape.

"Sakura," Shisui looked over at her and sighed. Placing his tea on the table, he walked over to her and grabbed his towel, "I thought you were supposed to be the medic."

She blinked and then felt him move behind her, "What is _that_ supposed to mean—?"

He was towel-drying her _hair_ , she realized with a cupful of shock. Towel-drying her _hair_ —the last person to ever do this was her _father_ and Sakura had been _six_. He continued, "Leaving your hair wet will make you sick,"

"And swimming in the ocean while it's raining won't?"

"Hey—" she didn't need to look back to know that he was grinning, he ruffled her hair obnoxiously, "I got us out before it really started to pour."

Sakura snorted, "I guess," she paused when she felt her damp hair slap her against her mouth from the rough actions of the Uchiha and she coughed, "You're such a _pest_!"

Shisui laughed settling the towel on the back of her neck, his eyes glittered in rainwater, an inky black as he looked at her, hair beginning to curl from the water of his previous shower, he used the strength of the towel to pull her forward, his lips pressing over hers slowly, giving her enough time to pull away. It was like she was sitting in a flat pan, melting, simmering and then burning by the time he pulled away. She felt like she was humming or was her nerves thrumming?

"Hungry?" he asked, fingers brushing down the sides of her jaw.

"I could eat," Sakura answered, her voice breathy and she hated the way it sounded, like she was _needy._

Shisui's eyes flickered between charcoal and a true black as he looked at her, "Ramen?"

She nodded.

And he disappeared into the kitchen.

Sakura groaned silently.

What was _wrong_ with her?

—

"I can't believe you," Sakura gaped at the television screen, " _Icha Icha_?"

"Kakashi-senpai is a bad influence," Shisui shrugged, his fingers twitched against the fleecy blanket they were sharing.

"We're watching _porn_."

"Actually," he chuckled at the redness tinting her cheeks, "The first movie isn't porn, it barely has any type of sex in it."

"Because you're such an _expert._ "

"Of course,"

Sakura slapped his forearm, attempting to bury herself into the couch as he shifted next to her, his leg strewn carelessly over her knee and calf, her shoulder on his chest and his hand absently patting her upper ribcage. She didn't dare to question this—whatever it was that they were doing. She liked it and she didn't want to ruin it with her overthinking.

Minutes passed as the film played on the television, her head pressed against the cushion, hair brushing his shoulder and she tried to focus on the fact that they were watching a movie and not the fact that Shisui's fingers were playing with her waistband—it wasn't like it was sexual or suggestive, but it was _new._

"His name is _Naruto_?" Sakura commented aloud, her brain already making the connection, because it didn't take a genius to put two and two together to come up with four.

She felt Shisui's chuckle underneath her shoulder, "Jiraiya-sama should've became a fortune teller."

"Can you imagine him with a crystal ball?"

He snorted, "No."

Sakura laughed too, "Me neither."

—

Sakura doesn't remember when Shisui fell asleep, she could hardly believe that Shisui trusted her so much, to fall asleep right next to her, on her. His head dropped to her shoulder, his leg flexed against her knee, the movie playing faintly in the background and it was hard to describe just exactly what she was feeling.

He was _warm._

Shisui was _always_ warm.

His body had a comforting weight, something that resembled a heavy blanket. Faintly, she remembered something Sasuke had said when they went out to dinner once, something about how Shisui wasn't very trusting, something about how he held himself at arm's length, or was it Itachi that had said that?

Or maybe she just imagined the whole thing.

Sakura looked down at him.

Shisui was beautiful. Beautiful in a sort of tragic type of way, he had long, dark sooty lashes that brushed his cheekbones. Stress lines – though they weren't as prominent as Itachi's – and a hard jaw. Black, thick hair that curled at the tips, messy and boyish—she could feel herself _flushing_ at her thoughts.

He held her strangely, as if he wanted to anchor himself to her or if he wanted her to anchor _him._

She had thought, that maybe it was an unconscious type of response, that because of his long, extended, deep, undercover work, that he would have unordinary sleeping patterns, because it was hard to sleep so unguarded—especially if you were undercover for _that_ long. It wasn't like _she_ was uncomfortable, but was _he?_

If she thought back, Shisui had only been in the village for two months and of all the people in Konoha for him to attach himself to, he chose her? For him to drop his guard like this—for him to have so much _faith_ in her—? It was unthinkable, unfathomable.

Sakura altered her position on the couch, shifting her weight to the left side of her body so his neck wouldn't twist uncomfortably in his sleep.

But her action only seemed to rouse Shisui from his sleep, because his brows furrowed and his breathing deepened. His muscles tightened, chakra coiling like a rope and it was heavy—his chakra was _heavy_ , as if there was a boulder resting on her shoulders, pulling her down and his heartbeat fluttered.

Sakura stilled.

 _A night terror._

No, it was something similar.

It was like he was paralyzed.

Sakura knew of his PTSD, but she didn't know—she didn't realize how _bad_ it was or what caused it. She remembered that first mission they took together, that assassination mission and at first she didn't think much about it, because it hadn't fully registered.

Shisui was an ANBU operative, she had seen the tattoo when she did his checkup, but to her, it didn't make sense. Sakura, yes, she was a medical ninja and she skirted with death too many times to count, and if she didn't get over her patient's death it would swallow her whole. Shisui was a different story altogether. She didn't know him well enough to point out his flaws or his weaknesses, but she didn't want to stand there and let it _consume_ him.

Shisui was a tortured creature.

And it hurt her to see him suffer.

"Shisui," Sakura said quietly, her fingers brushed his arm, "C'mon, you have to wake up."

She shook him lightly, his muscles tightened around her frame and it started to make her nervous. She shook him again. His breath quickened and then he started to sweat. Sakura thought that maybe she was scared, she didn't want to see him trashing and yelling and out of control because that was scary—seeing Shisui in pain was _scary._

Sakura lifted her hand, chakra probing her fingertips and slowly rubbed his temple.

Unlike genjutsu, chakra probing is a lot more…intrusive to the unconscious mind. To put it bluntly, it felt like someone poking you in the head with a piece of wood, rough and forceful, but it did the job. Her chakra disrupted his unconscious state, cutting off his dream—nightmare, he shifted beneath her, his features, his forehead wrinkled and then he opened his eyes.

 _Red._

Hell-red.

Shisui's sharingan activated and suddenly, she was flipped over onto her back. With the air knocked out of her lungs, she could only stare at him, half in dread, half in concern, his hands were tight against her arms and his chakra coiled thunderously.

 _Carefully._

She had to tread carefully.

"Shisui," Sakura started softly, almost as if she was talking to a child, "Shisui, can you hear me? It's Sakura."

Shisui blinked slowly but did not answer otherwise.

"Shisui," she said firmly, "It's me, Sakura. Remember, you were teaching me kenjutsu? You like tempura from _Kyoto's_ and your mom buys you custard for your birthday. You like the sea and you playing tag."

"Sakura?" his voice cracked, eyes glazed over, his grip slackened, but he did not make a move to release her.

Green eyes glimmered with an odd light, she gentled her voice and greeted him, "Hey,"

Shisui seemed to break out of his daze, the last remains of his dreams disappeared like star-dipped webs, he blinked rapidly and _flinched._

"Shisui?"

"I—I'm sorry," he released his grip on her wrist as if he had been burned and scrambled to get off of her. Chakra wavering like broken leaves and his own breathing was audible. _Fuck._ His sharingan had activated and if he had been anymore reckless, if he had been anymore careless, he could've broken her _mind._ He could've hurt Sakura, snapped her mind like a rubber band and burned the pieces.

Sakura could see the signs of panics, the uncertainty, the fear, and the _hate_ —she needed to quell it. _Immediately._

Sakura didn't wait nor did she hesitate, she couldn't allow him to feel like this, her hands grasped his jaw and she stilled him. Her voice coated in aloe, "Shisui—Shisui, look at me, look at me," her voice firm, but kind, "Look at me."

Shisui sat on his haunches and looked at her almost as if he was ashamed. His lips twisted into something somber and his eyes—his _eyes_ , she never wanted to see that look in his eyes _again._

"Don't apologize," Sakura said resolutely, emerald ice, and she continued, her voice never losing its soft edge, "I'm here, okay? I'm here."

Sakura could never definitely say that things would be fine, that everything was going to be okay, because she didn't know if it would. She didn't know if he's nightmares would stop or lessen, but what she did know is that she would never abandon him. She would never leave him to face his demons without her by his side and in hindsight, it was probably the most serious of oaths she could take but, she just did _not_ care.

She pulled him closer to her, pulled him until his chest was against her chest, pulled him until his chin dug into her shoulder, pulled him until he was pressed so close to her that he could practically _taste_ her chakra. Sakura was heat, blood, and air. She would keep him grounded, even when her arms wrapped themselves around him, fingers tangling in his hair, blunt fingernails scraping his scalp, one arm around his shoulders and her cheek against his.

"I'm here," It was the only thing Sakura could've seemed to whisper and she pressed him closer to her. She wanted him to sink into her, to feel _her_ warmth, wanted him to know that he was _safe_ with her, and she hoped that it was enough. She hoped that he understood as she pressed a kiss to his temple.

Shisui's shoulders hunched over, he leaned into her and allowed himself to be held.

 _I'm here._

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** ugh I don't think I like this chapter, because of the lack of movement? I'll go back and edit ajknsdf.

 **footenote2:** midterms are over, but exams are not agh.

 **footnote3:** also, a lot of people had been asking me about the plot and Sakura's power-ups and? The action-plot part of the fic is secondary, Shisui and Sakura's relationship—character development? That's primary.

 **footnote4:** I wanted to say something else, but I can't remember my brain is fried.

 _thank you to everyone who reviewed! :)_


	14. give me a direction to follow

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "just you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **give me a direction to follow**

* * *

"Look," Sakura started off, her nose wrinkled with distaste, "I've had three twelve hour shifts within the span of seventy-two hours. I'm tired and I'm hungry. You can't expect me to jump for joy when you've practically dragged me out of bed and demand that we spar."

Naruto looked chastised, "But Sakura-chan, we don't see you anymore!"

"Well stop taking on so many missions," she rolled her eyes, "Maybe you can see me when, you know, you're still _in_ the village."

"Sakura-chan," he whined, turning his head to face his mentor that was sitting on the tree, "Tell her, Kakashi-sensei! We don't see her anymore!"

Kakashi flipped a page of his very weathered novel, he replied lightly, "Sakura-chan doesn't look like she wants to be around us."

If that sentiment didn't have a grain of truth to it, she would've sighed and relented to Naruto's obvious clinginess, but it was the way she hesitated. It was the way she hesitated that made Sasuke's eyes widen in mute surprise, although it hurt, it wasn't like her to treat them with such blatant coldness.

Naruto stilled, "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura pressed her lips together, "I'm _tired._ I want to go home and sleep. Can't you feel my chakra levels?"

Sasuke scoffed, turning his head to face his blonde teammate, he bit out, "Sakura is obviously too weak to fight, let's just go to the training grounds."

Once upon a time, that comment would've bothered her. It would've picked at her insecurities, her obvious distaste and hurt towards her value and self-worth on the team. Now? Now, she's like the blade of her katana. Heat and irritation rolled off of her like steam on a humid day. She cocked her head to the side and shrugged, "Have fun."

Kakashi's attention shifted, he placed his book into his pouch and turned to look at his female student with a certain heaviness.

If Sasuke's usual, cold, cruel jab didn't rile the pink-haired medic to the point of retaliation, that could only mean one of the three things.

One, Sakura-chan was growing up.

Two, she was _really_ tired and couldn't care less.

Or, three. She found someone more important than her teammates.

Unfortunately, with the way Kakashi's been taking random, high-priority missions, it could be any one of those three things.

"Sakura-chan, the bastard didn't mean it," Naruto turned his head to glare at his up-tight best friend, he turned to look back at her, "Are you really gonna go home?"

She sighed, "Tell you what, if you don't break any bones during training, we can spar later. Before dinner."

The blonde seemed to brighten at that, he grinned, "Alright, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura gave him a half-smile before walked out of the clearing slowly, lethargically, and Kakashi frowned. She _did_ look exhausted, her nerves are all out of touch and her sense of self, distorted.

Surely, Tsunade wasn't pushing her _that_ hard.

Shizune was in Kiri with Genma working out the kinks for the new joint medical program that they would be implementing with the help of the Mizukage, though, it would be hard to push with all the political mishaps happening around that area.

But, didn't that mean Sakura was running the hospital?

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

He would have to find out.

—

"I thought you didn't like my apartment?" Sakura raised an eyebrow as she shut the front door of her apartment. Her guest lay lounged on her couch, a curly mop of hair draping over her armrest, feet barely brushing the opposite end of her three cushioned sofa.

"It grew on me," Shisui huffed a laugh, "I'm particularly fond of this couch. Microfiber?"

"It's nice in the winter," she defended and slipped off her boots.

He twisted his head to look at her, "I'm not complaining,"

Sakura rolled her eyes, grabbed the fuzzy blanket that was draped over the head of the couch and cocooned herself in the brown fluff. He snickered at the picture and pulled her onto him, he mumbled into her hair, "You look like a piece of tempura."

"I've never been compared to my favorite food before," she replied off-handedly, "I'm not sure if I'm impressed or confused."

"Because it's original?"

"Because it made sense."

Shisui nipped her ear and she shrieked. Swatting his arm – as best as she could because she was quite literally rolled up – she shifted in his arm until her forehead rested in the crook of his neck.

"How did your team take it?"

Sakura paused for a moment, "They were relentless for a bit, but I told them if they managed to not break any bones, I'd spar with them before dinner."

Shisui made a noise of discontent, "Sakura. You're exhausted."

"I know," she agreed.

"Just because they don't know of the impromptu surgeries that happened last night and the night before, doesn't mean they can just crash your apartment and drag you out of bed," Shisui shook his head, "Seriously, your chakra levels are _wavering_. They should know better."

Sakura stared at him with incredulity, "It's Naruto _and_ Sasuke."

"So?"

"Think about it."

Shisui did. He unwrapped Sakura – the tempura roll – pulling the blanket over her until it draped over him and the couch. Tugging the blanket until it reached underneath her chin and shifted her until she was higher up on his shoulder. He exhaled abruptly, "Okay. I see your point."

Sakura snorted, "Rationality isn't exactly their strongest suit."

"Don't have to tell me twice," he hummed, his arm snaking over her waist and tucking into the space where her civilian pants met her waist, "I didn't know you slept in civilian pants."

"These are _your_ pants."

He blinked, "What?"

"I had to trim the ends so I didn't trip and fall," she shrugged, "Because that would've been embarrassing."

"And wearing men's clothing isn't?"

"They're _comfortable,_ " Sakura emphasized, "And soft. You're not getting them back."

"Do you think Sasuke recognized who they were?" Shisui asked curiously, forearm resting against the back of her neck, blunt fingernails stroking her scalp.

"I doubt it. He preferred to provoke me, jackass," she scowled and fell against his jaw when he scraped her pleasantly, she hummed, "I'm going to fall asleep on you."

He smiled and brushed his lip against her hairline, "That's the point."

Sakura fell asleep to the feeling of Shisui's fingers in her hair, the warmth of his body and the gentle sound of his heartbeat. The surgeries had taken a lot out of her, one required major organ restructure and the other two were dojutsu focused. It was meticulous work, one that needed a continuous flow of chakra, slow and steady, one that could map out the finer details of veins and chakra networks.

She was _exhausted._

Shisui had arrived that night, the last night holding out a box of tempura, curry, and custard. She nearly cried at the sight of her favorite foods, exhaustion mixed with her temper and bone-weariness almost had her collapsing. She managed to shove half a plate of curry, tempura untouched as she fell asleep at the table.

Shisui tucked her into bed, smoothening out her hair and made sure she was cared for before disappearing into the living room. According to the hospital regulations or Sakura's apprentice – Udon – Shizune was out of the village for two weeks, Sakura was practically running the hospital and with no one to fall back on—she took on all the work and shouldered the burden.

He had scowled at that.

It was reckless.

Both he and Udon had agreed to that.

But he understood what she had to do.

He silently noted to have her eat something when she woke up, he had left the rest of the food in her fridge, he would have to reheat the tempura and the rest of the curry. Shisui tightened his grip on her and dozed off with the heat of her small body radiating into him.

—

Shisui woke up to the sound of water running.

 _The shower_ , he thought vaguely.

Shaking his head abruptly to remove the sleep from his muddled mind, he sat up and started to reheat the food in her oven from the refrigerator. She's going to eat _everything_ he gave her. Setting the rice and curry to the side, he rotated the pieces of shrimp and vegetables in the oven with a pair of chopsticks and brought out the custard from the top of the fridge.

"I forgot you brought dinner," Sakura walked in with light blue shorts and a large shirt, one that hung off her shoulder and stared at him.

Innocently.

He bit the inside of his cheek.

Shisui shook his head and placed some tempura pieces onto a plate next to her rice, he pressed, "Eat."

She rolled her eyes and dug in.

"This is a lot of food," she commented a matter-of-factly when she swallowed all of her rice and curry – he remembered pork curry – picking up a piece of tempura, she nibbled on the crunchy skin.

"You need food," he shrugged and chomped on a carrot, "Your chakra levels are stable, but they aren't excellent."

"I feel less dead," Sakura smiled at his frown.

"Well you look it too," he poured her a glass of water and then his eyes glittered, "If you can eat all your tempura, I'll caramelize the custard."

"Don't tempt me, Shisui," she pointed a sweet potato at him.

He tilted his head innocuously, the slow expense of his neck, the visible cream of skin, shouldn't have been tempting as it was, the veins of his jugular and the hardness of his Adam's apple—it shouldn't have been as _provocative,_ but it was. He smiled sweetly, "But I am."

Sakura stared.

 _He wasn't—he's not._

Even her thoughts sputtered.

 _He's not doing it on purpose._

"You should know better to get between me and food," Sakura took on a new edge of attack, she grabbed another piece of shrimp.

"I thought I was more important."

 _Okay._

She gave him a look of exasperation.

 _Maybe he was doing it on purpose._

She ignored his jibe and dipped a piece of eggplant into her sauce. The crunch of the fritter was audible in her kitchen, his riceballs glaring an obvious hole into her side. She felt particularly proud that she ignored the umeboshi treat until she finished her bowl of deep fried vegetables. Then and only then, would she grab the rice balls from the side of the table, munching on them slowly, pointedly ignoring the amused Uchiha in front of her.

"I only brought three riceballs this time," Shisui said suddenly, "Itachi took the rest."

Sakura hummed with disinterest.

"I won't be able to make any more for you."

She paused abruptly, slowly, she flickered green eyes to him with betrayal, so prominent that it made him feel bad for a fraction of a second, swallowing roughly, she demanded, "What? Why?"

"I'm going on a mission tomorrow evening," Shisui smiled when she scowled.

"You could've just said that."

"And miss the look on your face?" Shisui teased, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That was mean," she pouted despite herself.

He laughed, warm and hearty, "I couldn't resist."

Sakura rolled her eyes and finished her last rice ball.

"Ready for dessert?"

She nodded. Grabbing her dishes, placing them in the sink and then grabbed finer china for dessert. She turned around and watched him burn the sugar with his mouth. Smoke crackling, sugar snapping and crystals scalding.

Forget the plates—she was digging in, spoon swinging and amber cracking.

Sakura beamed when the crunchy clusters of almonds nicked her back molars, cream heavy on her tongue and the stickiness of the sugar clung to her gums, she sighed wistfully, "I almost forgot how this tasted."

"I only buy this on special occasions," he smiled when she scooped another heap into her mouth.

"What's this for then?" she furrowed her brows, "What special occasion is this for?"

"Your three miraculous surgeries?"

Sakura frowned, "That doesn't really need celebrating."

"Oh, because it was _such_ a mundane task?" Shisui quirked a brow, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sarcasm isn't attractive on you," she said amusedly.

"I guess you really _don't_ want this custard," he sighed disappointedly and snatched the tin from her hands playfully.

Sakura's mouth parted at his audacity, eyebrows furrowing, she scowled, "Shisui—what did I tell you about coming between me and food?"

"This is _dessert_ ," he reminded her cheekily.

"I've changed my mind," Sakura's lips pursed, "I think Sasuke may beat you on my list of favorite Uchihas."

Shisui's smile fell off his face, "That was mean."

She held out her hand and smiled proudly when he dropped the tin back into her palm.

Their banter, Shisui had come to realize, was an effective way of letting Sakura release tension and exhaustion quickly and harmlessly. Her shoulders were less tight, eyes a lot brighter, and her smiles more natural. He liked talking to her like this. Selfishly, he was greedy for her time, for her attention because he felt so carefree with her and that made him feel a lot more possessive of her.

And he hated feeling possessive.

Because it was _Sakura._

Because it was a weakness.

Because his own feelings towards her _terrified_ him.

"Shisui?" Sakura asked suddenly, her lips tilted downwards, "You okay? You kind of spaced out for a bit."

Inky eyes blinked at the sudden question, he tilted his head, "I was wondering what we should do about your very nosy sensei."

Kakashi-sempai wasn't very _subtle_ if he had to be honest.

"Sensei?" Green eyes bemused and then she stilled when she felt his chakra. She rolled her eyes, "Of course."

Shisui almost smiled, "Tea?"

"I don't think I could put anything else in my stomach right now," she groaned, her lunch—dinner made her feel sluggish.

"Your chakra levels are nearly full," he commented lightly, walking towards the sink, he started to wash the dishes that cluttered the bottom of the sink, "The custard might metabolize slower—"

"—because of the high-content sugar," Sakura finished the sentence for him and rolled her eyes, "I _know_ , Shisui."

He flicked a few soap bubbles at her, "Excuse me for taking care of you."

"I don't _need_ you to take care of me," she reminded him.

"I know," Shisui said quietly.

 _I want to take care of you._

It left unsaid, somewhere in between the lines of the warm atmosphere – though not as warm as the soapy water his hands were currently submerged in – the gentleness in his tone was not something to take likely, he liked to think.

"Is Kakashi-sensei still spying on us?" Sakura asked suddenly, her voice a lot closer.

His eyes flickered red for a fraction of a second and then back to charcoal, he rested the last plate on her dishrack and bobbed his head, "Yep. Still perched on that tree branch."

She sighed, "For some reason, he thinks that's the best place for surveillance."

Shisui snorted and dried his hands with a towel, "Not much has changed then."

Sakura chuckled, "How do you want to handle this?"

He thought for a moment, turning to look at her – because Uchihas don't _spin_ on their heels – back against the edge of the sink, his mouth curved into a small smile as he thought of the possibilities, he asked with a hint of a laugh, "How much damage do you want to inflict on your sensei?"

Her grin widened, eyes emerald and she answered, "Maximum damage."

Shisui really did smile this time, "I knew I liked you for a reason."

Jade glittered, "And what reason is that?"

He didn't answer, instead, he pulled her close, dipped her back and kissed her.

Shisui kissed her slowly, languidly, teasingly, his fingers running down the bumps of her spine and her hands fisting in his hair. She hummed into his mouth when his teeth grazed the corner of her mouth, the bitterness of amber hitting the back of his throat and the sweet cream of the custard lingered on her tongue.

"Almonds," he mumbled into her mouth, deepening the angle of the kiss, his nose bumping hers.

She laughed gaily against his lips when she heard a familiar thump outside and then his comment registered in her mind like rain on a summer's day. Her nails raked down the back of his neck, even when he lifted her up to sit on the countertop.

Just like anything dangerous, Shisui dived in headfirst.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1: TOUCH ME LIKE YOU TOUCH NOBODY ~**

 **footnote2: I hate vague professors — like give me clear instructions, okay. I'm tired of running around without a clue.**

 **footnote3: the end of midterms just reminds me that finals are right around the corner.**

 **footnote4: listen domestic Shisui is just a _mood._ *-***


	15. drift: submit to strange enchantments

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "just you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **—**

* * *

 **drift: submit to strange enchantments**

* * *

Kunai.

Shisui cleaned the blade with a white-knuckled grip, eyes gray with charcoal and a silver flint. A clean kill was always satisfying. It was swift and painless. Light in and light out. Thunder rumbled quietly over the docks of Water and the sun bleak beneath the clouds. The smell of rain drowned out the rusty, saltiness of blood and he exhaled.

Sakura had done the run around – around him, to Itachi.

He doesn't know what she had told him, but all he knew was that Itachi started to look at him like he was fifteen again and the world was too heavy for him to shoulder. He didn't know if he liked it. If there was one thing he knew about both Sakura and Itachi, was that they hated to beat around the bush, so the fact that they were doing it in front of him left parts of him annoyed and parts of him confused.

Then one day, Itachi grabbed his arm and Sakura grabbed the other and they used shunshin – Shisui kind of regretted teaching her that now – until they were down into T&I. It had perplexed Shisui for the briefest of a second, but then Sakura hurled him into a familiar office — _Yamanaka Inoichi._

Those two—they threw him at a shrink.

Shisui had glared at those two — furious that they had manipulated him like this, because he didn't _need_ help, he didn't need to talk to some fucking _mind reader,_ he didn't need _anything_ , but what really screwed with him was that Itachi — the Uchiha fucking _heir,_ went along with this.

Now he was alone in a shrink's office with a shrink.

A part of him tried to rationalize, that they did this because they _cared_ for him – never mind that Itachi and Sakura both teamed up against him because he would be having _words_ with his best friend – but they did it so efficiently, that he had to _wonder._

But really, he should've given them enough credit, because it took one look – one fatherly looking look that Shisui had seen his father give him before – for him to crack.

Itachi and Sakura _knew_ Shisui and that was the problem.

Shisui would've never faced the problem unless he was thrown headfirst into it. He was adaptable and flexible, but it had taken one glance at the situation and the other at Yamanaka-san for him to break.

If he really thought about it, he should've fought more. He should've pushed himself out of the situation because he didn't _need_ help, he didn't _need_ it, but he _wanted_ it. Sakura and Itachi both knew that they also knew that he would never ask for it too, not because it was a matter of pride or arrogance, but because he wasn't selfish enough to think that he deserved it.

When Shisui walked out of the office, shoulders lighter and head heavier, he turned to the left to see the duo lean against the walls as if they had been scolded by their teacher for unscrupulous actions. He didn't know whether to feel amused or exasperated by them.

Shisui had forgiven Itachi after two days, but he took his time with Sakura.

But, by the fifth day, Sakura had looked at him with big, watery green eyes that made his heart melt and wither at the same time, and he folded like a pair of cards. He had groaned, grabbed her hands and pulled her into him, "Fine—fine, just _stop_ looking at me like that."

"You're not mad?"

Shisui rested his chin on her head, fingers sliding into her hair as she rested against his chest, he replied honestly, "At first I was, but I understood why you did it."

Sakura nodded, "I would've helped you—I just," she furrowed her brows, a touch of pensiveness brushed over her face and it made his interest in her answer perk up, she finished quietly, "I couldn't tell if I was being objective."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"It would be better for you to speak to a stranger rather than someone you're close to," she explained, her fingers brushing the sides of his waist, "Sometimes it's better. I—it would be harder for me, because…"

Shisui's hand was heavy on the back of her hips.

"…because I would be emotionally compromised," she said and refused to look at him, "I think I'd say things to make you feel better and not—I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense. Just," she groaned into his clavicle, "I—"

"I get it," Shisui put an end to her monologue, he held her tighter and pressed his lips to her hair. Chest beating rapidly and ears hot, he held her tighter. "I get it."

 _Because being emotionally compromised meant that she couldn't be objective—_

Sakura's fingers splayed across his upper back.

— _it meant that he meant as much to her as much as she meant to him._

—

"Ugh," Naruto groaned, his head fell back onto the ground with a dull thud. His shoulders ached from the constant cycling of chakra, that, and it felt like Sasuke's right hook felt like it got stronger—not that he would ever tell him that, "Where is Sakura-chan?"

"Didn't she say she had a shift?" Sasuke fell onto the ground next to him, the sun clouded over the leaves of the big oak tree by the bridge.

"She's with your cousin," Kakashi interjected back against the trunk of the tree and he flipped a page of his Tactics book.

The blonde frowned, "Shisui?"

"Who else?" Sasuke scowled, "He's been cozying up with her since we came back from Suna."

"Jealous are we, Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi commented lightly, "Shisui is a good person. I've known him for years."

"He was your contact," he rolled his eyes, "We _know._ "

"Actually, he was my kouhai when I was in ANBU."

Naruto's eyes widened and then sat up abruptly, "Seriously?"

"He and Yamato," he nodded.

"He's my cousin," Sasuke reminded him and then he shrugged, "He's aniki's best friend. The last time I saw him I was eight. Then he died."

"Exactly," Kakashi snapped his book shut, his eye crinkled, "So don't count your eggs just yet."

"I'm pretty sure that idiom is wrong,"

—

"What did I tell you about over-using your sharingan?" Sakura frowned. After a thirty-minute healing session, she could tell her chakra was nearly at a quarter, unstable for most shinobi, but just exasperating for a medic-nin. Low chakra tended to make her snappier, unstable and even more jittery by the minute. It was like drinking a cup of coffee, without the sharpness or clarity.

"Not to," Shisui snorted, he rolled his shoulders back, hissing when his bones clicked, "Itachi wanted to test out the second stage of our sharingan," he shrugged, "Guess we got carried away."

"You guess?" she asked sarcastically, fingers digging into her forearms.

"We only sparred for four hours."

"Four hours," Sakura stressed the next part of her sentence with irritation, "With _nonstop_ sharingan and chakra cycling—are you _insane?_ " she huffed and then dropped her arms, "You know what? Don't answer that."

Shisui had the gall to smile sheepishly.

"Inhale for me," Sakura told him as she pressed a chakra-heavy hand on his chest, a small diagnostic was prudent for someone like Shisui. Unlike Itachi – who's lungs and chest strain from the use of his sharingan – Shisui's strain comes from the back and the muscles behind his neck. She had hypothesized that strains – whether it be from organ or muscles – depends on the advancement of the sharingan. Sasuke's strain comes from his blood—his eyes bleed and he cuts easily, it sort of made sense she had mused. Maybe it was his pallor.

"Double-shifts today?" Shisui asked as she prodded his back muscles.

"The hospital is understaffed," Sakura replied, focusing her chakra into needle points, she worked out the strain at the back of his neck, "The Jounin exams are soon and Shizune-senpai is training medics and implementing new regulations for the procedures during the exams. The medical base is taking on a new set of protocol and I'll be here taking care of the hospital, while the medics Shizune-senpai is teaching will be out in the field."

He frowned at her explanation but did not comment otherwise.

"Exhale, slowly," she instructed, pressing another chakra-laced hand to his upper back, the tension lessening in his upper body and his eyes twitched at the cooling sensation, "You should be okay now. Headaches?"

Shisui shook his head.

"What about dizziness?"

Another shake.

Sakura nodded her head and scribbled something into her chart. She rubbed the side of her cheek roughly before placing his chart back onto the counter, she looked at him warily, "You can go. Just don't use your sharingan for a couple days. What happened to Itachi-san?"

"Shizune-san got to him first," Shisui tugged his shirt back on, "Gave him some chakra pills and a pair of glasses."

"You have _your_ glasses, right?"

"In my pouch," he smiled.

Sakura narrowed her eyes.

Rolling obsidian orbs, he reached into his back pouch and pulled out a rubber case holding his plastic, thick-rimmed frames and he huffed, "I wasn't lying."

"I never said you were," she raised a brow.

"When do you finish your shift?" Shisui asked suddenly, he stood up in front of her, muscles heavy with chakra and smiled softly.

Sakura blinked at the non-sequitur, shuffling backward for some space, she eyed him, "In two hours."

He raised a brow, "Truly?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. She contemplated on fibbing, but like most Uchihas, Shisui could've probably smelled the lie straight away, she shrugged, "Four hours ago. I was going to leave soon, but we had an emergency surgery."

"If I find you back here after your two hours…" he warned her with a frown, placing his glasses on his face and then turned to look at her with a raised finger.

Sakura scowled, fists tightening and called out his bluff, "You'll what?"

Shisui just smiled and then disappeared.

—

"I know you have this strange habit of appearing out of thin air," Sakura started as she chewed a piece of grilled meat, "But most individuals like it when these people announce their presence, so they _don't_ have a heart attack."

"Ninja," Shisui pointed to his headband and poured her a cup of water.

"You're talking to Kakashi-sensei a little too much," she frowned at his response.

"Well, he _is_ my senpai."

"Don't remind me," Sakura scooped up a spoonful of rice, "Sensei only says and does things when it pleases him to do so."

"He's always been like that," Shisui scratched the back of his head and turned over the pork, "He likes to keep the element of surprise."

"Something you picked up, then?"

He grinned, "I always did like playing hide and seek."

"Itachi-san said you liked tag."

"I like lots of games," Shisui shrugged and bit into his beef skewer. "Just because I can appear out of thin air doesn't mean I know how to do anything but."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Well, at least you don't like playing blacklight."

"Blacklight?"

"It's something Naruto and Sasuke and I came up with to prep us for the Jounin exams," she explained, picking up a piece of grilled chicken, she continued, "Actually we came up with it when we were genin, but it didn't become useful until we were preparing for the exams."

"So it's a stealth game?" he assumed.

She nodded and swallowed the rest of her vegetables, "Basically. We just modified it."

"Sounds like hide and seek," Shisui pointed out.

"It kind of is," Sakura said thoughtfully, "Still, it's different."

"Will you teach me, Sakura- _sensei_?" he smiled sweetly, flipping over the last of the meat, fingers brushing his chopsticks, he picked up some mushrooms and tossed them onto the grill.

"Fine," Sakura twisted her lips unattractively, "Just don't call me that _ever_ again."

Shisui laughed, "Not planning on becoming a Jounin instructor?"

"Not that," she wrinkled her nose, "Well maybe someday, but the way you just said it—how could I ever look at Kakashi-sensei the same way _again_?" she laughed at that fleeting thought because, well, to her it didn't make much sense – comparing Shisui and Kakashi never, _ever_ made any sense – but maybe she was tired, to think of Kakashi in such a _way_ or if Shisui implied that there was _such_ a way, or maybe Sakura was just too comfortable to acknowledge the Uchiha's flirtations. Somehow, it looked like she was encouraging it.

Shisui stared at her with mute surprise for a moment, then his eyebrows furrowed and his voice dripped with irritation, "I would hope that you don't look at Kakashi the same way you look at me."

Sakura blinked at the sudden seriousness that permeated the atmosphere. It was strange, the way he changed the tension with just the heaviness of his eyes, she tilted her head slightly, "Look at the same way…? What do you mean by that?"

Long lashes fanned against his cheekbones, he pursed his lips into contemplating position, one that was flummoxed, barely hinting at his incredulity. He reached out, fingers grasping her chin, elbow digging into the table and swiped over her jawbone affectionately, slowly, gently and Shisui answered her lightly, "Just like that."

Sakura's eyebrows raised, green eyes glittering with surprise, warmth and maybe a little bit of bashfulness. Sometimes, she had to wonder, if she would ever feel like — if things would go back to the way they were.

But then the rational part of her, the convinced part of her – because she _knew_ Shisui – would remind her, that Shisui, would never allow things to go back to the way they were.

He was content with where he was.

Sakura leaned into his hand.

* * *

 **footnote1:** finals _finals_ finals. wow I have one tomorrow but here I am _writing._

 **footnote2:** i've decided that from here on out, these chapters will not be posted in chronological order. I kind of wanna skip around and play with some themes. Some angst, some smut, a little bit of plot and then a whole load of fluff, because this is _Shisui._

 **footnote3:** you can submit some themes/prompts via tumblr if you want to see it in the following chapters. Just tag with hashtag!osw (so I don't accidentally write a oneshot).

 **footnote4:** also, I find myself very, very much adoring Kakashi.

 **footnote5:** what else do I wanna say? oh yes, I started watching this anime _Mahoutsukai no Yome._ Um, it's so? Cute? Adorable? Strange? Bonehead reminds me of Kakashi? Maybe just a little. Ok, I'm done babbling.


	16. long settled-friendships

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "just you."**

 **tumblr request: "one with a friendship/bonding chapter. You can do Team Seven + Shisui or Itachi."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

—

* * *

 **long settled-friendships**

* * *

"This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever done," Sakura grumbled, her knees dug into the grass behind the high-walled shrub.

Sasuke scoffed, "Clearly, you've forgotten about that demon-spawn cat Tora."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "The amount of shit we had to do to catch that damned cat still gives me nightmares."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't resist chuckling. Their genin days weren't exactly glamorous, no, but they were _memorable._ Tora had escaped his Madame's clutches approximately, twenty-three times—officially. She can't say for the other genin teams, but Tora had become the precedent of incredulity. The yard-stick. Kakashi had given them plenty of D-rank missions before, but in the discretion of it all they still had asked, "Is it Tora like?"

Kakashi was mean, but he wasn't cruel.

At least to them, she had mused.

"You know, we _have_ attempted this in the past," Sakura reminded them, she shifted the weight of her knees to the other side of her hip, easing the strain of her muscles, "And it did not work."

"We were twelve," the blonde huffed, "We have _skills_ now."

Even Sasuke nodded in approval.

She stared at them in disbelief, "And you really _think_ that we can take on Kakashi-sensei?"

"Scared?" Sasuke taunted.

"Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei became ANBU Captain before he became Jounin," Sakura stated bluntly, "What does that tell you?"

"That he's _way_ out of your league," a new voice chimed in, a warm rumble above the medic's head.

Emerald eyes blinked, peering upwards she watched Shisui grin at her, and Itachi gave her a strange look.

"What are you doing, otouto?" Itachi frowned at his little brother's strange team dynamics.

Sasuke flushed a dull red in embarrassment.

"We're going to catch Kakashi-sensei with his mask off," Naruto explained a matter-of-factly as if he was stating a true, undeniable fact.

Shisui raised his brows in surprise, he asked amusedly, "You agreed to this, Sakura?"

Sakura scratched the side of her cheek and smiled sheepishly in answer.

"I mean we've tried this before when we were genin," Naruto went on, blue eyes darkened at the memory, "But all he did was pull out a second mask."

Itachi chuckled at that.

"Kakashi-senpai has always been careful," Shisui commented, he dropped down and scooted over next to Sakura's resting calf, "You have to be subtle about these things," he looked over to his younger cousin and gave him a half-smirk.

Itachi stared at him for a moment and then sighed imperceptibly.

He crouched down next to his brother.

"You're—" Sasuke started half in awe, half flabbergasted, it's like his brain wasn't able to process just _what_ was happening. A small shard of anticipation bubbled up in his stomach, genuine elation cracking against his cheeks, "You're going to help us?"

Itachi's lips twitched, "Of course."

"We've been _dying_ to see what's under senpai's mask," Shisui nudged Sakura's shoulder.

Naruto beamed, "Oh _hell_ yeah."

Two ANBU captains and his best friends?

Today was going to be a good day.

.

.

.

"The eating-out trick?" Sakura frowned with disappointment, "We've tried this already," she flicked Shisui's forehead, " _Amateur_."

"Barbeque?" Itachi interjected helpfully, leaning against the post he explained, "It would be harder to conceal his face if he's cooking the meat and having to eat it straight off the grill."

Shisui yanked a small strand of pink hair flying waywardly, he pressed a quick, inconspicuous kiss to the corner of her mouth when Naruto and Sasuke reached to grab their binoculars, he smiled rakishly, "And how are we going to get senpai to come to lunch?"

Sakura blinked a little starry-eyed.

"I could blackmail him," Naruto said thoughtfully.

Sakura raised a brow, "And _what_ do you exactly have on sensei?"

The blonde grinned.

.

.

.

Kakashi stared at his colleagues – three of which were his students – warily. Barbeque, was a breath of fresh air in contrast with the typical, mundane ramen, but it wasn't exactly his favorite. What also made him even worse for ware, was that both Itachi _and_ Shisui accompanied his team. Together. If that wasn't a cause for alarm, he didn't know what was.

"Barbeque?" his visible eye crinkled, "I thought I would have a heart attack before Naruto suggest anything other than Ichiraku."

"Trust me sensei," Sakura chimed in casually, "It took a lot of convincing to get Naruto to eat something other than ramen."

The blonde rolled his eyes and grumbled, "It was either this or tempura and tempura tastes like crap."

"Be thankful you're sitting away from me Naruto," she narrowed green eyes.

"Shut up dobe," Sasuke sighed, "She'll make us pay for her lunch if you don't behave."

Itachi raised a brow.

Naruto huffed, "She could just get Shisui to pay for her."

Shisui laughed not at all offended by the accusations. Normally, he would have rebuked Naruto for saying such a sexist thing, but he learned otherwise. There was a polite type of detachment that kept him from saying anything to jesting, Sakura had called him out on it, but bad habits were hard to break. His relationship with Sakura – while never verbally conversed or acknowledged by either two parties – was in a nutshell, simple. Words were easy, they were for the obvious reason – oral interaction, but he had come to realize, albeit late into his teenage years, and much to Sakura's penchant, that he preferred to speak with his _eyes._

"He bought dinner last night," Sakura rolled her eyes, she dipped a piece of grilled mushroom into her soy sauce and chewed, "Do you really think Shisui buys me everything? Itachi-kun buys me food too."

Sasuke's chopsticks dropped onto the table, he swerved his head to look at his older brother with a mildly betrayed look, "Itachi- _kun,_ Nii-san?"

Itachi looked slightly uncomfortable at the sudden pairs of eyes festering on his form, his cheeks tinted a hint of pearl pink, he replied diplomatically, "Sakura-chan is a very good medic, we train and have dango sometimes."

"Sakura- _chan_?" Kakashi repeated oddly.

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke.

Perhaps it was the strangeness of it all, but somehow in the midst, of Sasuke and Naruto's exclamations of pure and utter disbelief, Sakura's laugher and Shisui's teasing at his younger cousin, did they somehow manage to completely miss Kakashi's mask removal.

.

.

.

"We can try swimming," Naruto pointed out after their failed lunch attempt.

"I'm pretty sure sensei swims in that mask," Sakura replied with a frown and then huffed, "If you and Sasuke had stopped fighting in the restaurant, maybe we could've gotten a _glimpse._ "

"You were encouraging it," Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"But Itachi blushing is just so _cute_ ," she defended her actions with a stubborn pout, even Shisui nodded.

"Totally, the last time he blushed like that was when—" Shisui gasped when his cute, little cousin shoved him. _Shoved him._ And if it weren't for Sakura, Shisui would've have stumbled.

Sasuke's eyes widened in recognition, "Izumi."

Green eyes glittered, "Oh? Now this, I _have_ to hear."

Itachi glared.

.

.

.

"I thought we were going to see Kakashi-sensei's mask today," Naruto whined but hid behind the bush dutifully.

"We can do that later if you still want to," Sakura waved it off and her brows furrowed, "This is much more important."

"Playing matchmaker is kind of…girly."

Sasuke slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth, muffling his yelp when Sakura whacked him with a stray tree branch. Shisui, calmly, grabbed Sakura's binoculars that were hanging innocently around her neck and peered through the lens.

"Itachi's in position," Shisui murmured.

"Where?" Sasuke activated his sharingan.

"Eleven o'clock."

Itachi patiently – nervously – waited for the vendor to hand him his two sticks of goma dango, while, purposefully, casually – as Shisui had insisted – standing outside the stall in perfect view of the market trail.

"Uchiha-san," Yumi, one of the daughters working at the stall, handed him the small white tray with two sticks of dango.

Itachi nodded his thanks.

Shisui counted to three.

"Ah, Itachi-san, what are you doing in the civilian district?" Izumi suddenly greeted him, the warmth of her skin radiated from her wavering, loose shirt and it made the muscles in his back bunch.

Blinking back, he lifted his white tray of dango towards her, and replied with great hesitance, "Dango?"

It sounded like a question.

"Oh my god," Naruto snickered, blue eyes widening to the size of a fist, he turned to face his teammate and finished dramatically, "Your brother is a _loser_."

Sasuke almost smiled.

At least there was _one_ thing Itachi wasn't good at, it was _flirting,_ not that Sasuke was any better, but at least _he_ didn't look constipated.

"What is he doing?" Sakura whispered exasperated, "He's supposed to offer her a stick!"

"If there is one thing Itachi-chan does not share, it's dango," Shisui chuckled.

"If he likes Izumi-san as much as I think he likes her," she started off, fingers digging into the earth as she crouched into a more comfortable position, "He'll offer her a stick."

"He's buying her dango now," Sasuke commented, snorting lightly he muttered, "Stingy bastard."

Naruto could only sigh.

.

.

.

"You know," Kakashi started off suddenly, he paused mid-push-up, flickering his eyes over to his only female student, who was basking in the sunlight, "I'm kind of jealous, Sakura-chan."

Sakura twisted onto her side, her elbow digging into Shisui's upper back, she curled her knees until it hung just barely over the curve of his waist, her brows furrowed, "What do you mean, Sensei?"

"I used to be the one you would lay on top of," he almost pouted.

Sasuke made a strange sound from beneath the tree, his face tense and his mouth twisted, "Don't say that. Not ever."

Naruto nodded mildly aghast, "It sounds _wrong_ when you say that, sensei."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Have Naruto lay on your back when you do your push-ups then."

Shisui chuckled from underneath her.

"Gross, Sakura-chan."

Kakashi huffed, "I can't believe you would ditch your poor sensei to lay on Shisui-kun, here. It took a boyfriend for you to neglect your poor sensei, hm?"

"Do you really want to try the _guilt trip_ on me? How many times have I begged you to go to the hospital and get a check-up?" she raised a brow, because she wasn't going to settle for his indirect jab, Kakashi always had a way of getting under her skin, but she had Shisui and if he was going to try and ruin something good — well, that was just unacceptable. "How many times have you come to my apartment bleeding? Or poisoned? Broken bones? A collapsed throat so bad that I had to perform an emergency surgery in my living room?"

Shisui had stopped moving.

"Does it make you feel better when I worry?" Sakura continued, green eyes sharp and disappointing, "Does it make you feel good that poor Sakura-chan is scraping her reserves raw when one of her team members drops in her apartment halfway to death in the middle of the night?"

Kakashi looked chastised.

Even Naruto and Sasuke grimaced.

"So if you want to play the _blame game_ ," she scowled, "I have plenty of fingers to point and lots of examples to follow with."

Shisui interrupted her softly, "Sakura."

It was the gentleness and firmness of his voice that made her stop in her tracks.

Sakura's lips thinned.

She didn't mean—she didn't mean to let it drag on for that long, to prolong her reasoning or for her irritations to be voice aloud, but that didn't mean her teammates could accuse her of _neglect_ when she has been nothing but selfless. It wasn't fair.

Kakashi sighed long and hard, "I know, Sakura-chan."

"I know."

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** wow, okay that got somber real quick.

 **footnote2:** i also had no idea what I was doing with this chapter because it was intended to be light and fluffy, but it got raw and angsty at the end. Damn.

 **footnote3:** also I did not mean to take so long to update ajsdf – my fam flew in and everything is full and people are everywhere and I have no time to be with me, myself and I because everyone wants _attention._ ugh.

 **footnote4:** do I like this chapter? maybe, the timeline here is somewhere after shisui and sakura agree to "date," but not enough time has passed for her team to be okay with the transition.

 **footnote5:** furthermore, merry late christmas! see you in the new year! :)


	17. we rise and then we fall

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "just you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —Shisui/Sakura**

* * *

 **we rise and then we fall**

* * *

Shisui rested his head against the banister. It was uncharacteristically of him to be nursing a hangover, that much, he knew, because that was how Itachi found him. There were two instances in which – that Itachi knew of – that Shisui had gotten drunk. One, was when he was he accepted into ANBU Corp, Shisui had gotten so drunk, he fell asleep on the bathroom floor of the bar. The second time Shisui had gotten drunk, was when Itachi's mother threw an impromptu birthday party for him last year – he vomited on Sasuke's favorite pair of sandals.

"Here," Itachi handed his older cousin a cup of ginger tea and he said firmly, "Drink."

Shisui nodded his thanks, face pale, and fingers moist, he grabbed the cup and sipped, "I feel like death."

"You look like it," he raised a brow, "What happened?"

"Sakura's birthday," he said and wagged his head. Dark curls fell over his forehead and the sides of his temples, "Kakashi-senpai demanded a drinking contest."

"And you accepted?" Itachi said with disbelief.

"I knew what I was getting into the moment I set my eyes on Sakura," Shisui explained, taking another sip, he continued, "I wouldn't be able to be with her peacefully without doing something ridiculous with her team—that included her old sensei."

He chuckled at that.

"I have training with her later," he said suddenly and then winced, "If I'm hungover, she might actually kill me."

"Not fast enough?"

"Sakura is better at playing tag than you, Itachi-chan," Shisui laughed.

Itachi's eyes widened at the implication.

"She's got crazy potential. Her katana skills are still basic at most, but I think once she gets the shunshin done – she's almost there really – all she really would need is the basics," he rambled, "Can you imagine the damage she would do if she used medical jutsu on her katana?"

"When did this happen?" Itachi asked suddenly, he furrowed his brows, "This thing between you and Sakura-san?"

Shisui considered his question, "I don't know," he frowned, "I think when she was coming back from Suna and we crossed paths or maybe it was at Mikoto-obaa's party. I don't really remember."

"That was six months ago," he pointed out.

"Yeah," Shisui shrugged, "Probably since I've been back in the village. She just—" he paused, "Didn't judge me or treat me special. She just _got_ it, you know? She just understood."

Itachi just nodded.

"Plus, it's just — I don't know," he rested his head onto the table, "It just makes sense."

He deadpanned, "You and Sakura-san?"

"Obviously," Shisui rolled his eyes, "Anyway, if you could make those riceballs, cousin…"

"I think it would be better if you had some miso soup rather than the riceballs," Itachi tried to advise his older cousin discreetly.

"The riceballs are for later," he pointed out, "And for Sakura."

"I don't know how to feel about you only wanting me for my cooking," a pause, "I feel used."

"Oh, _shut up_ Itachi."

.

.

.

"This is so boring," Naruto whined for the nth time, he leaped from a tree branch and landed on the trail, "I thought we were leaving the village."

"It's a _domestic_ mission," Sakura reminded him.

"Shouldn't a couple of chunin be taking this mission?" Sasuke agreed.

She sighed, "Yeah, well…Tsunade-sama only trusts us with this mission."

"Why?"

"Because it's for the next _chunin_ exams," she emphasized the word chunin because clearly they still haven't gotten the memo, "Do you remember _our_ chunin exams?"

Sasuke looked away, suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of Orochimaru.

Sakura nodded approvingly, "That's what I thought. Besides, I think it's a good idea to have the written part of the exam here and the combat part in Kumo."

"Why?"

"Because it'll give us more eyes and ears out on the field," Sasuke pointed out.

Sakura almost smiled, "You _have_ been listening to your brother."

He scowled, "I do. On occasion."

Naruto laughed and ducked underneath a branch, "Cute, Sasuke-chan."

"Hush Naruto, Sasuke's having an emotional moment," she teased, leaping onto the laboratory building in the eastern district of Konoha, she pointed towards the red building, "Look we're here."

"The civilian district?" Sasuke blinked.

"It's not really civilian-civilian," Sakura explained, she used shunshin to appear next to the tea shop, "It's for civilian families with shinobi children. It's kind of a hybrid district for both shinobi and civilians."

"I haven't been to this part of the village before," Naruto said slowly, he flickered his eyes from the teashop to the weapons shop.

"Merchants and small business owners live here as well," Sakura tried to reply carefully, "It's kind of a private section of the building."

"Private for people have money, you mean," Sasuke deadpanned.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yes, Sasuke."

"I thought you said civilian families live here," Naruto pointed out as they began to walk down the trail.

"They do, but most civilians own businesses. I mean there are farmers, your handymen, your seamstress—it's kind of like a grant? The government gives those civilians a house in this district in exchange for their children's lives," Sakura twisted her nose, "It's not really an incentive, but it's more like a…"

"Like a _thank you,_ " Sasuke finished for her, but then he frowned, "I never heard of this grant before."

She rolled her eyes, "That's because you only care about your clan," she grumbled under her breath, "Not _everything_ is about you."

Sasuke glared at her, muscles twitching in his biceps and he opened his mouth to speak—

"—it's true, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted him, his eyes solemn and for a minute, he looked so uncharacteristically serious, "None of us really pay attention to civilians, I mean Ayame-chan and Teuchi don't really count because we see them all the time and we don't think of them as civilians," he paused, "And we don't know what's happening to them because we're usually on missions. So it's kind of our fault."

Sakura stared at him quietly.

.

.

.

"Today sucked," Sakura nestled her back deeper into the grass and rested the back of her hand onto her forehead, "It was so anticlimactic."

"Oh?" Shisui's head rested side by side next to her, his fingers twirled a blade of grass, "How so?"

"Tsunade-shishou gave us a D-rank mission," she explained, "It was mostly scouting for the written part of the chunin exams."

"It _sounds_ anticlimactic," he agreed.

"Naruto and Sasuke have never been to the civilian district," Sakura suddenly said, she flickered her eyes over to the tree and then back to the leaves, "I think they were…confused?"

"I honestly thought you were going to say enlightened," Shisui huffed.

"That too," she laughed, "Maybe. I don't think they realize how many civilians there are in Fire Country."

"There's a reason that there is a Daimyo and Hokage," he replied slowly, "The Daimyo's interest rests with the people – civilians really. The Hokage is a militaristic leader. The Daimyo holds wealth, land, political sway—they have to work together to make the country function."

"If you think about it," Sakura started quietly, "The Daimyo…really doesn't seem important."

"They aren't," Shisui agreed, "But lots of shinobi have come from the Daimyo line. It's like the Queen in Crescent Moon, she doesn't do anything because the council decides everything and all her appointed officials do the same as well. She's just there as a symbol because they are still a monarchy—since their origins."

"Anticlimactic," she paused, "Truly."

"That's just the way things are," he shrugged.

Sakura thought about that for a moment, "But that doesn't mean we have to live like that. Be like that."

He raised a brow, "Anticlimactic?"

She rolled her eyes, "No," she almost smiled, "Submissive."

Shisui sat up almost immediately, spine tense and eyes sparkling, he asked, fingers digging into the dirt, "Are we thinking about the same thing?"

Sakura didn't sit up, she rolled over until her stomach was flat against the ground, she pressed a hand to her cheek and answered dubiously, "I don't think so."

He wilted, visibly.

Her green eyes sharpened to one of malachite, a quiet silver flickering in her line of vision and she smiled almost mischievously, "I think we need a mission."

If there was one thing that Shisui didn't like, it was confusion. He hated feeling blind. His brows furrowed and drawled out, "Yeah, I don't get what you're saying."

Sakura sighed.

.

.

.

"Let me get this straight," Tsunade paused – she was sure she did not have one cup of sake today – and tried to wrap her mind around this, lifting up a scroll with purple blackberry ink, she asked with incredulity, "You wrote and sent a mission request to spy on the Daimyo?"

Shisui paused and then gaped at Sakura.

He didn't read or helped write the scroll – which was probably his mistake – because he trusted that Sakura. What she wanted to do, could be considered political sabotage and well… a lot of other things underneath the political-shinobi laws.

"Not _our_ Daimyo," Sakura clarified, crossing her arms under her chest, "But Kumo's Daimyo."

Tsunade pinched her nose and pressed her fingertips together, "Sakura. I am _this_ close to beating you for not making any sense."

She sighed, "Have you read Itachi's recent reports?"

The Hokage blinked at the non-sequitur, "On the Akatsuki?"

"The rings, actually," she replied and tugged on her necklace, "I had told Itachi that the kanji on the rings were similar to a dialect that I saw in Ame. Ame, for some reason, does _not_ have a daimyo—the reason being that of its location," she shook her head, "Anyway, I was thinking that Ame might be working with a daimyo."

Tsunade looked at her, "Because?"

"Because if the rings did come from Ame," Sakura continued, "Then a Daimyo has to be backing them up with funds. Those rings are not cheap. The gold – I had Hinata-chan run in one of the labs – is made from banded gold and ruby, which is a—"

"It's a signature Daimyo seal," Tsunade finished for her, "Banded gold is only circulated in the feudal family."

Sakura nodded, "My theory is that they melted the Daimyo's jewelry to make the rings."

"Banded gold and ruby have a high melting point," Shisui interjected, he racked his brain for some academy-based knowledge, "It's not easy to melt them, especially finding places that _can_ melt them."

"To melt those types of metals," Tsunade's eyes hardened and explained, "You can't use regular fire. It has to be chakra, funneled and concentrated to the point where your chakra can destabilize given a second element."

"But all weapon shops can do that," Sakura pointed out.

"Yes they can, but not to the point of destabilization," she replied, pulling out a drawer from the left side of her desk, she grabbed a handful of documents, "Only specialized weapon's shops can do that. They have to be licensed, monitored and examined before they are put on the market. There are only a couple."

Shisui pointed to a shop on one of the maps that Tsunade had pulled out, "Here."

"Tanigakure?"

Sakura frowned, "It is closer to Ame, but wouldn't it be better to have a shop in Ishigakure?"

"Location," Shisui answered, "If a shop is too close to a country that's well, _good for business_ , then it becomes obvious to who is supplying that country with weapons. Putting the shop in a country that is quite some distance, but not the _only_ notable shop in the area makes it harder for people who want to stop their _business_ because they don't have any solid evidence."

Both Tsunade and Sakura stared at him.

He huffed, "I may have also heard a thing or two when I was undercover."

Sakura chuckled, "Anyway," turning to face her master, she asked, "Do we have permission to scout?"

"Surveillance," Tsunade corrected and grabbed a scroll, "You made your case. I'll make it a B-ranked mission. I expect weekly reports."

Shisui blinked, "Weekly?"

"Your duration for this mission is three months," she crossed her hands on the desk, "You leave at sundown. Dismissed."

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** A month. It's been almost a month since I—I blame life, in general.

 **footnote2:** I think I'm gonna knock this down to T because I feel like the fic is not going in "that" direction? & thirty parts to wrap up the plot.

 **footnote3:** requests are still open for this fic – you can check my tumblr and send a message.


	18. because the moonlight deceives

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there are days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **because the moonlight deceives**

* * *

Sakura believed she has visited Tanigakure a couple of times – the most recent being the extraction of the Shukaku. It's not a place that was…pleasant. It was cold in the winter, spring, fall and scorched like Suna in the summer. The mountains and valleys were nothing but rough when it came to travel. Shisui's experience with Tanigakure was brief but necessary.

"Do you want to travel a bit more before we set up camp?" Shisui asked and landed on a tree branch closer to the sky.

Sakura considered the time and the weather. She mused, "Does it look like it's going to rain?"

The overcast in the thick brush of the forest made it difficult to predict the weather. It was reckless to travel in the rain. Not just hazardous in terms of running, but dangerous in terms of leaving chakra trails.

Hinata had once explained to her, that rain, for some reason, made chakra trails more tangible to the senses. Even if they were to suppress their chakra, the rain clings on to them and streaks minuscule leaks of spiritual energy. It was easier for the Byakugan to pick up the trails, but for sensors and non-clan shinobi, it was less complicated.

"Thirty minutes due east," he replied and then glanced over at the leaves that were beginning to overturn, "Let's find someplace to set up."

Sakura nodded.

Dinner had been two small, roasted fish and set of onigiri that Sakura had picked up from a stall in a neighboring village. The last village they had passed through had very few people, it wasn't even a town, but more of a community. There were rumors of rogue shinobi plundering small villages, robbing the civilians, stealing food and then disappearing without a trace. It was silly, to be suspicious of the old lady in the marketplace or the seamstress in the shop across the dumpling house.

But in her experience, shinobi don't bother stealing from civilians unless there was something _worth_ stealing.

Shisui had agreed with her. He twisted his chopsticks in his fish and added, "Normally, that would be the case, but Tanigakure isn't exactly wealthy. Most of their profit comes from farming and clothing. Cotton is very popular here and people pay tons of money for one hundred percent pure cotton clothing."

"Speaking from experience?" jade orbs twinkled.

He rolled his eyes, "Itachi is allergic to wool."

" _Oh?"_

"Don't make that sound," Shisui wrinkled his nose, "It reminds me of Kakashi-senpai."

"He _is_ my sensei," Sakura pointed out.

"Don't remind me," he sighed.

.

.

.

"Don't you think it's strange that the weapon shop is outside the village?" Sakura asked leaning against the trunk of the tree, her mouth marred into a small frown as she stared at the rather generously large shop with wariness. Her yukata was beginning to scratch her back and Shisui wasn't helping with his deep V-neck kimono.

"Usually," Shisui began, his hair gleamed charcoal in the sunlight, "But most of the villages here are civilian. We would have to go into the capital to see more shops."

"And it's specialized," she nodded, "I know that there are different laws for military commerce, especially when it comes to serving shinobi, but I would like to think that there would be…" she finished lamely, "More people around."

"It's different for each country," he shrugged, "If you were sporting a black market weapon's shop, where would you be?"

Sakura paused and pondered the question, "I would keep it around more people, no sense in drawing more attention—I mean, if I kept out of sight and in the middle of nowhere, it looks more suspicious, but if I kept it _in_ sight, it would be less suspicious and more normalized."

Shisui chimed in, " _But_ , with more people around it would be harder to conceal."

"Unless," she continued for him, "Unless I kept the black market weapons in a chamber and out of sight."

Shisui smiled, "I guess, we're looking for a secret compartment."

"Wonderful," Sakura replied dryly, "An underground tunnel."

Back in the small village, it looked like the villagers were celebrating some anniversary. It wasn't grand enough to be considered a festival, but it was festive enough to be a holiday. The draping of the silk curtains over the stalls glimmered a faint silver in the sunlight, heavily decked bells, along with flowers dotted the doors and windows. The air, permeated with grilled meats and sweet dango was enough to keep the duo rooted to the spot.

"This is a lot of people," Sakura commented softly.

Shisui hummed; there would be too many causalities should the outcome be fruitless.

"Onee-san," a small hand tugged on Sakura's yukata, "Would you like a mask?"

Sakura blinked and looked down towards her feet. A small girl, with hair red as blood smiled at her toothily, shiny beads glittering in her braid and sooty eyes glossed with innocence. Clearing her throat, she crouched and asked, "A mask?"

She nodded brightly, "For the celebration tonight!"

"Is today a holiday?" Shisui pitched his voice to a dulcet and it made the hair on the medic's neck raise.

"Today is the Ōkami Shiro's birthday," the little girl explained and tilted her head, "Do you want a mask?"

"Ōkami Shiro?" Sakura chuckled sheepishly when she saw her frown, "Sure. Can you tell us about this ōkami? We're kind of new here."

"Oh!" she giggled at her silliness and handed her two masks, "Here. My kaa-chan has a dumpling store. We can go there and I'll tell you the story. It's really long."

"Dumplings?" Shisui purposefully widened his eyes in a show of excitement and grinned sweetly, "Let's go!"

The little girl, Mira-chan, with shoulders too big for her frame, skipped along the dirt path towards a traditional, wooden shop with wind chimes hanging from the ceiling, she smiled, "Can we get two trays of steamed dumplings, Jii-chan? The pork and vegetable ones, would you like some tea, Onee-san, Oni-san?"

Sakura smiled encouragingly – she was a bit surprised at her manners; at best they were relative to that of a clan – and nodded to the owners before taking a seat.

"She's very articulate for her age," Shisui murmured into her ear, "Especially in a town like this."

It's not really skeptical if she had to think about it. Some families were very traditional, stuck in the roots of their ancestors and mollified by the actions of their community. Women, in particular, were groomed to become wives, of strong, rich capable men; it was very common for civilian families, but shinobi families and clans had very different laws and expectations. Sakura could only assess the townspeople based on the wealth and population of the village.

Education was very scarce, she had deducted.

She could only count two schools within the area and the children triumphed the adults in terms of the populace.

"Onee-sama," Mira started, she poured the two strangers a cup of tea fluidly, her movements were graceful, practiced – she noted absently; elegant – and refined. She smiled, "Do you know anything about Tanigakure?"

Sakura glanced at Shisui before she replied, "I've only been here a few times. Once when I was a kid. I remember that there was a big marketplace on Sundays. One of my best friends took me to a curry shop here."

She giggled, "You had the _Curry of Life_ then?"

The medic chuckled and ignored Shisui mouthing the words to her in question, "Yes."

"The Ōkami Shiro is the village's protector," Mira began her tale, "A long time ago before I was born, there was a bad man that ruled one of the villages. He used to set people on fire and steal bad children. He drank the blood of the priests and stole the teachers," she accepted the dumplings from her cousin, "Sometimes we can still hear them screaming."

"Screaming?" Shisui frowned, "Out loud?"

"At night," she nodded, "It sounded like Tonba-sensei; he taught me how to tie my shoes. The bad man would come to our village once a month and take one person with him."

Sakura picked up a soybean, "What happened to the bad man?"

"He died," Mira said, "Then the government took over and the police came and took a lot of money from all the people. A lot of money. Kaa-chan said that they were called taxes."

Shisui grimaced.

"Then another man, Kurosuki Raiga-san," she furrowed her brows, "I think that was his name. He killed everyone, but he was so scary. He would give people funerals when they were still alive."

Sakura felt a faint wave of nausea flicker in her stomach.

Shisui chewed a dumpling slowly, "Kurosaki Raiga was one of the seven swordsmen."

Emerald eyes hardened and she sipped her tea. She mumbled underneath her breath, "Naruto took care of him."

"You know Kurosaki-sama?" she blinked, her mouth twisted into something unpleasant, and she inched away from the table.

Sakura shook her head and soothed the redhead, "We've heard of him. He's very famous."

"Oh," Mira tucked her knees under her chest, "Well after Kurosaki-sama died, we had a drought and couldn't grow food. So the temple-people went to the river and made an offering. They begged for rain and pleaded with the spirits to do something. That night, we heard a wolf – well, Kaa-chan heard the sound of a wolf. I was very little. A very loud howl and she said it sounded like thunder. When the sun rose, it started to rain and we saw small patches of white fur. From the wolf on the ground. So every year, we celebrate his birthday, on this day. Because he gave birth to the village," she chewed on her dumpling, "Or at least that's what the priest says. The made a big temple to give thanks to the Ōkami Shiro."

"So, the Ōkami Shiro ended the drought," Sakura summarized.

Mira nodded, "But he also brought lots of food and animals. He even found Tonba-sensei!"

Shisui stared at her, "Tonba-sensei?"

"Mmhm! Tonba-sensei can't remember what happened, but he said there was a wolf that guided him back to the village."

"So what are the masks for?" Sakura asked, fingering the deep blue mask.

"The Ōkami Shiro doesn't come out when the sun is out. He comes out at night. They say if you wear wolf masks and look like your part of a pack; you might be able to see him."

"Mira-chan," a woman in her mid-forties called out for her, she arrived with another tray of dumplings. She had dark purple hair and Mira's dark eyes. A red line ran from her left eye to the end of her jaw, "Are you spewing that fairytale again?"

She pouted, "They asked, Kaa-chan!"

Shisui smiled and put his arm around Sakura's shoulders, "My wife and I are visiting. We've never heard of the Ōkami Shiro before, and the great and beautiful, Mira-chan was just telling us the story."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him.

He grinned and stroked the side of her arm with the back of his knuckles.

Mira's mother huffed with good humor, "Well, let me know if you need anything else. Mira-chan, don't forget to hand out the rest of those masks."

"Yes, Kaa-chan!" she chirped, pressing a finger to her chin, she tapped her fingertip childishly, "What else did I forget? Oh! They say that the Ōkami likes dango and riceballs."

Shisui turned to look at Sakura, "Are you sure _you're_ not the Ōkami?"

Sakura elbowed him in the ribs.

Mira giggled, "Tonight we make an offering for the Ōkami at the temple. Usually some flowers and sweets. Sometimes silk kimonos and jewelry."

Dark eyes sharpened, "I wasn't aware that the Ōkami wore jewelry."

"But don't wolves like shiny things?"

Sakura frowned, "I'm not really sure."

"I think you mean fishes," Shisui pointed out.

"But then what do ducks like?" Mira tilted her head.

Sakura shook her head.

.

.

.

"Well, Mira-chan was certainly informative," Sakura stretched her back against the tree trunk and took a sip of water.

"Very informative," Shisui agreed, "It seems that there's more going on than the Hokage thought."

"There are missing people—people who are still missing. Tonba-sensei for example," Sakura started, "It's very convenient for him to lose his memory, but still remember the wolf."

"Then we have the offerings," he poked the fire, "The kimonos and the jewelry."

"Did you notice the line on Mira's mother's face?" she asked and grabbed a pack of dehydrated miso to make soup, "It looked like a birthmark."

Shisui scratched the side of his cheek and placed a pot of water to boil, "She knows something."

"So much for a simple mission," Sakura sighed and stirred the pot.

Shisui couldn't help himself. He laughed, "Sakura, anything with you, is everything but simple."

She almost smiled, but still, she threw her spoon at him.

"We're getting a divorce."

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1:** lowkey wanna write a samurai/fairytale/myth fic.

 **footnote2:** wow, _subplot_.

 **footnote3:** Ōkami (in this fic) = is a great spirit/wolf. Who has white (shiro) fur. I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible lol.

 _Please review._


	19. silver-green lanterns

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there were days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **silver-green lanterns**

* * *

Sunset burned with vermillion swatches and grapefruit paintbrushes, marigold and saffron. Sakura's kimono was ankle-length, powder blue in color and embellished with silver flowers. It was a gift from Ino. The material was satin and it required the bare minimum in maintenance, but what really got her heart pumping, was the fact that she didn't need to wear layers.

Traditional kimonos required layers, but the life of shinobi required movement; she was glad to be the recipient of this crowned jewel. A dagger was taped to her thigh, senbon in her hair and kunai sealed on the bottom of her slipper. It was common knowledge that Sakura's real weapons were her fists.

Shadowing Shisui would've proven to be more difficult if she wasn't used to his shunshin. She was no Uchiha and sometimes his movements blurred, but given her chakra-sensitive nature, she was able to trace his movements based on the vibrations of his chakra nature.

"Do you have your mask?" she asked both uninterested and curious.

"You know," Shisui started off dryly, his bone-white mask hung off his index finger, he looked at her with wry amusement, "These kinda look like ANBU masks."

Sakura glanced at her's. It was a deep indigo blue, with white markings down the face and ears, "I think this is glitter."

"But the shape, Sakura."

"This was made by an eight-year old, Shisui," she rolled her eyes, "I doubt she's part of a secret crime family or something."

Shisui stared at her knowingly—strangely. Almost as if they were searching for something so imperceptibly small in the wind, and then finally found it after hours of searching. That type of knowingness that makes your stomach knot in cold confidence, not because you were happy with the answer, but because you knew that this was, in fact, the cold, hard truth.

"A crime family," he repeated, more for her sake than his.

"No," Sakura shook her head, her eyes sharp and heated, "Unlikely. We're talking about people who own a _dumpling shop_."

"Stranger things have happened."

"So says the wolf," she made it a point to wave her mask at him like a banner, "We shouldn't jump to conclusions. Things are not always so black and white."

It was like hitting the nail right on the mark.

Shisui was a prime example of that; he couldn't retaliate.

Shinobi were known for being overly-paranoid – which is well within their rights of course – but civilians gave them a different taste in their mouth. In other words, shinobi regard civilians as ignorant, fragile, innocuous beings. Sakura was not a civilian, but her grandparents were and there were certain things, certain mannerisms, that she picked up from them that made them seem more shrewd than most people gave them credit for.

Mira-chan's vocabulary was peculiar, a certain oddity when speaking, almost as if she were speaking in a dialect, but it was clear, that she had some type of education. Which was strange because schools were scarce in this village. Home-school would've made more sense, but her parents ran a dumpling shop. She was exposed to hard-labor and early mornings and even later nights. If Mira was, in fact, home-schooled, her life would've reflected in that aspect, however – her eyes narrowed – however, they _chose_ to work hard labor than as a craftsman or a merchant.

Shisui's suspicion was relevant, but at the same time, she didn't want it to be.

Sometime later, two hours in the village had left Sakura ravenous. Scouting was always, the most uninteresting part of any mission, most of the times, there was nothing to take note of, nothing to report on, it's usually wasted time. Shisui would argue with her about that; scouting was just as important as all the action-pack part of the mission.

It's not that she didn't _know_ that, it was just, she chose to ignore it.

"I love tempura," Sakura sighed as she sank her teeth into a piece of deep-fried shrimp. The starchy texture from the daikon tasted almost like ground sesame seeds and rice powder. She was glad the stalls gave chopsticks to accompany the fried pieces of meat and vegetables; it kept her fingers clean.

"I know," Shisui huffed, "That was your third box."

She narrowed her eyes, "Did I say anything when you swallowed four sticks of yakitori?"

He chuckled unperturbed by her comment, his knuckles brushed the back of her lower back and offered, "No, but you did steal the last stick."

"You wouldn't share,"

"I _always_ share,"

Sakura scoffed, "Tell that to Itachi. I heard you swiped his dango one time and he tossed you into the river."

Shisui rolled his eyes, "Itachi is _way_ too territorial over his dango."

"You guys are such children," she laughed and walked over to another stall, "Soon you're going to start fighting over clothes."

"He already steals my weapons pouch," he commented and lifted a wooden stick on the countertop, "And those were custom-made."

"Why do you have custom pouches?"

Shisui placed a few ryo on the counter, lifting up one of the dull, wooden mock-arrows and flung the twig at the target. The attendant congratulated him with a warm smile and indicated the prize section. He said, "The real question is why don't _you_ have a customized weapon pouch?" the Uchiha pointed at the small brown bear in the corner of the booth, "That one, oji-san."

"My pouches are made for durability, not fashion," Sakura wrinkled her nose at her statement, perhaps she should care more about how it looks, "Plus what would I get custom made in it?"

"Your clan insignia?" Shisui pointed out and smiled at the small bear in his hand, "Here, you may hold my prize for me."

"I _may_?" Sakura repeated incredulously, some part of her, the small insecure part of her, wondered, why didn't he give _her_ the prize? Isn't this what guys did? It's what she expected, of course, but…her fingers twitched at the soft cotton of the bear.

"Yes," he smiled then, "You may, after all, it is a Sakura bear."

She stared at him dumbfounded. It took her a good minute for her brain to register his statement, she asked, slowly, "Did you…name this bear…after me?"

Shisui looked at her as if she was daft, expectedly and tilted his head. Mischief glimmered in his dark eyes and his small dimple at the corner of his mouth twitched, "Of course. Can't you see the resemblance between you and the bear?"

Sakura's mouth opened and then closed shut; disbelief heavy in sage.

"A cute, scary, mama bear," he said cheekily.

She flushed, hot and quick, from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears. She whacked him none too gently on his arm and walked away. Bear in her arms and a scowl on her face. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered, her chakra was still visible, so if he needed to find her, he could.

"Nee-sama!" Mira's voice called out to her, her feet jingled as she came closer, tugging on her sleeve, she asked, "You're wearing my mask!"

Sakura looked at the mask that was resting at the side of her face and smiled, "Well, you did give it to me?"

She smiled, "I did!"

Smiling politely, she listened to how Mira went on about her mother's stall, how her dumplings were the best in the village and how her father – who was suspiciously very well at slicing meat for the grill – was also setting up a stall to sell yakitori.

"Where's your husband, Nee-sama?" Mira asked suddenly, her nose scrunched the same way Sakura's did when she was confused.

Sakura blinked, "Husband—oh, my husband," she continued dryly, "I seem to have lost him and the goldfish booth."

"He likes catching fishes?" she blinked, "I thought only us school-kids do that?"

Rolling green eyes, she shook her head, "My husband acts very much a child…especially since he's at a festival."

Mira giggled, "We have to circle back from the tea shop to find him!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, "What about your parents? I don't think you should be away from them, it's not safe to be alone."

"But you're with me Nee-sama," she blinked those innocent, dark, doe-like eyes of hers and smiled, "So I should be safe, right?"

 _That's not the point,_ Sakura thought exasperatedly.

Sakura wasn't sure whether or not to compliment her on her manipulation skills for both shop and emotions – she would make a very good shinobi – her parents must be proud. Grimacing at the thought of being manipulated by a nine-year old, some shinobi she was, she offered her hand to Mira and walked down the festival path.

.

.

.

"Oh, Mira-chan," Shisui sounded surprised, black eyes flickering over to Sakura in question, he crouched down and waved his stick of fried shrimp, "What are you doing here? Did you find my wife? She gets lost _so_ easily when she sees dango and chocolate. I may have to tie a string to keep her from wandering away."

Sakura glared at him unamused.

Mira giggled, playing with the stray strand of thread hanging from the sleeve of her kimono, she brought a hand to her face to hide her smile and replied, "Nee-sama told me that _you_ got lost!"

Shisui gasped dramatically, "Wife, how _could_ you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Ignore him, Mira-chan. He likes to act innocent. Would you like some tea?"

Mira nodded and pointed to the stand next to them, "Kokoro-obaa has the best tea! She puts flowers in."

Sakura nodded, "Yes, yes," she turned her gaze to Shisui, and asked in a voice drenched in sickly sweet syrup, "Would you like tea as well, dear _husband_?"

Shisui chuckled and waved his shrimp at her, "I'm fine, dear. I have some matcha with me."

Perhaps, pushing Sakura's buttons was not the best idea, since she was both hungry and tired. From the sight of first light, both he and Sakura did rounds a little after midnight. Circling the country, fingertips testing for any faint traces of malicious chakra all the while scouting for new information.

When Sakura left, Shisui began to survey the area with faux disinterest, eyes dipping into vermillion when the soft ochre of the lanterns washed over him with a dim light, fluttering ribbons and soft smells of pine pulled in the wind.

He frowned, nothing _felt_ wrong.

"Nii-sama," Mira tugged on his hakama and blinked charcoal pearls," They're going to start the offerings soon!"

"For the temple?" Shisui asked, flickering his eyes around, he observed that the townsfolk were starting to clear the area, migrating north to where the shrine was.

"Did you bring anything to give the Ōkami Shiro?" she questioned, "Kaa-chan has the flowers I picked from the river."

"I have some flowers," Sakura said walking closer to the duo and lifted up a bag of dragon's beard, "I bought some sweets too," lifting her cup to her mouth, she sipped her green tea and added, "Also, Mira-chan, your mom is waiting for you at the kimono stall."

When Mira huffed and stomped her way over to her mother, Sakura glanced at the shrine that started to glow from the spark candles, on top the hill. Sipping her tea, she handed Shisui the bag of candy and said: "The ceremony is starting soon."

Shisui offered his arm for her and winked, "Ready wife?"

She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

The trip to the shrine was nothing short of awe. Hidden at the top of the hill, overlooking the village, the shrine made from red oak and concrete glimmered mahogany in the firelight. With the quiet crackling of spark lights and the clicking of bamboo on hard rock, it reminded her of the festivals her parents used to take her to as a child.

"This is nice," Sakura murmured glancing at the colored paper, "I haven't been to a festival in a long time."

"Me too," he nodded and they took their time walking up the steps, "I think there's even a hot spring up there as well."

Emerald eyes glittered, "I'm going to have to come back here."

"With your team?"

Sakura snorted, "No. As much _fun_ as that could be, I think it would be a little too stressful to keep an eye on all of them."

"So the girls then?" Shisui mused.

"Sure," she shrugged, though, that's not necessarily who she had in mind, "It would be nice to have an all-girls trip."

"We can come back together during the fall," Shisui said smoothly, keeping his eyes locked on the temple, "I remember Mira telling me something about the autumn harvest."

Sakura paused her train of thought, not wanting to seem too eager at the idea, "Together?"

"Do you not want to come back together?" he quirked a brow at her.

She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it shut; speechless. While she was thinking of coming back with Shisui, she didn't think it was necessary to be vocal about it, especially since—

—his finger ran down the length of her jawline, curving behind her ear and rested there. Two heartbeats passed, moon-rivers and pearl blush.

And the earth crackled.

Chakra, thick and heavy shattered the air and Shisui's eyes bled red.

Sakura snapped her head to look at the temple and watched in disbelief at the sight of thick, white tail disappear into the temple, she blurted out incredulously, "The Ōkami Shiro?"

Shisui gritted his teeth, "That's no Ōkami," he pulled out a kunai from his sleeve, and said hissed, "That's a summon."

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote1: midterms are overrrr!**

 **footnote2: this took too long to write.**

 **footnote3: also happy late birthday to Sakura my fav anime character _ever_. **

_Please review._


	20. take some rain with my sunshine

**on still water**

 **by: whisperedsilvers**

 **prompt: "for you."**

 **summary: and sometimes, there were days without rain. —shisui/sakura**

 **X**

* * *

 **take some rain with my sunshine**

* * *

"So, to sum it up," Sakura tried to wrap her head around the mountain of information that she was just _slammed_ with, "You are the niece of the Kumo Daimyo, the one who ran away from your husband – first husband - because of his philandering ways and his greed. You still have all of your wealth—kimonos, jewelry and silks to use as an offering for the Ōkami, but the Ōkami really is a summon from a powerful shinobi who works with the Daimyo and is actually looking for you, but once you realized that the Ōkami was connected with your uncle, you stopped the offerings which is why every time the festival comes, the damage to the village comes closer to your home."

Mira's mother nodded warily.

Shisui's eyebrows raised high on his forehead, he crossed his arms and demanded with incredulity, "Does your husband – Mira-chan's father – _know_?"

"He knows that I ran away from my first husband who…had money," Mira's mother said dryly and then shook her head quickly, "But he doesn't know anything else otherwise."

"Why is your uncle looking for you?" Sakura asked suddenly.

Mira's mother pulled out a necklace that she had hidden in her kimono, she answered, "This," The ruby of her necklace sparkled in the candlelight, "It's from my uncle. My father is the one that actually is looking for me, my uncle could care less about jewelry."

"So your father is the one looking for you and is using your uncle's business partner as a liaison," Shisui mused and then his eyes sharpened when he looked at the insignia on the ruby.

"When Mira-chan told me that she met someone with pink hair, I had to ask," Mira's mother pulled out a flyer that she had crumpled up underneath the chair of her stool, "If it was the same girl on the paper."

It was her page out of the bingo book blown up, the ring on her necklace most prominent and with a reward of over five million ryo.

"When she said yes," Mira's mother shivered, "I had to tell you because you have the same necklace."

Sakura grimaced, she had that ring pretty well in between her clothing, so the person who made the sketch had to have known that she had the ring. But, if Mira's mother knew of the insignia then, perhaps she could shed some light on the same question that has been bothering the whole of Konoha. She asked, "What is this insignia? What is the ruby?"

"I don't know the insignia, but the ruby is a tracking device," Mira's mother furrowed her brows, "Only blood or chakra can activate it. I don't have chakra, working chakra anyway to activate it, it also acts as a medium for communication."

"It's a transponder," Shisui murmured, "It would be easier to have an earpiece unless these rings have something to do with—"

"—the sealing," Sakura finished his sentence for him, nodding more to herself than to Mira's mother, she continued, "How long does the summon stay?"

"Until sunrise,"

"And he's looking for you," Shisui said thoughtfully, "You say when you offer a piece of your kimono or something you had left from your days with the Daimyo, he takes it and leaves."

"To report back to your father," Sakura's green eyes widened, "You never thought about leaving?"

Mira's mother sighed, "And go where?"

The two shinobi grimaced.

—

The plan was relatively simple. Find the Ōkami and follow it back to his master, but the trick lay in the _how_ of the plan. As soon as the summon appeared, it disappeared just as quickly. Chakra vanishing with the snap of a wrist and the cool air of midnight.

"I think we should speed this up," Sakura sighed impatiently, "If the summon realized that there were shinobi in this village, the summoner would've decided to hide until the area is clear."

Shisui raised a brow, "And how exactly do you want to _speed this up_?"

"You do know who my teammates are, right?"

"What does Naruto and Sasuke-chan have to do with this?"

"They aren't exactly known for patience," she snorted and regretfully, she sliced her kimono mid-thigh, even though there weren't any layers to this piece, she needed all the free-range she could get, "If the wolf won't come to us, we're going to have to come to the wolf."

Sakura wrapped her fist in foamy, green chakra and slammed her fist against the forest floor. The earth crackled beneath her feet, trees splintering like skewers and shattering chips. The force of the blow caused alarm, but more importantly a flare of chakra.

"Did you get that?" she asked.

Shisui's eyes bled red and he smirked, "Forcing danger in the eyes of animal enforces adrenaline and the nervous system to react, thus causing—"

"You've been reading my medical books," she grinned with approval, "Animals are more prone to a fight-or-flight response."

"So forcing them to acknowledge the danger unconsciously gives away their position," he nodded his thanks, "Three kilometers east and five hundred yards north. It's moving."

And they bolted.

Forest running and tree branch leaping sounds silly in theory, but it was far more dangerous than what she had assumed. Basic survival training taught you to run, but to run with unstable terrain, darkness and unreliable plants was a feat on its own. Shisui's eyes were an advantage, but Sakura's sensitivity to chakra was a gift.

Ducking underneath a hanging willow, Sakura disappeared to the edge of the riverbank where she spotted a cave buried beneath vines and tangled ivy. Shisui, hot on her heels, paused mid-stride and used shunshin to reach her.

"Camp, I think," she said.

"It's empty," he announced, "They're running, chakra shifted at twenty-two degrees."

"The shrine?" Sakura questioned suddenly, "Why are they going back there?"

Shisui was silent for a moment, his eyes hell-red as he glanced at the back end of the river and then he grinned, "Let's play a game."

.

.

.

Sakura's shunshin was nearly as good as his. Her training, supplemented with a handful of elemental ninjutsu that she picked up while on missions and his one-on-one sessions, pulled her straight up the ranks. It wouldn't be long until she was recruited for ANBU, he mused. Her kenjutsu was still rusty, even as she slashed through the Rain nin, but combined with her raw strength, it made her an unstoppable force.

Sakura's fist cracked the metal of their katanas, the silver bending backward until it snapped like a twig under the weight of a tree. She used their momentum to her advantage, flickering behind them she hooked her elbows under their arms and flipped them backward.

"Can you cool it with the acrobats?" Shisui whistled as he plunged a kunai into some nin's liver, "I can only take so much sensory information."

"Is the big bad ANBU tired?" she laughed, her fist closing over a tree root, "What about those pretty little eyes?"

"They would like to live to see you," he prodded back, "I can't do that if you're bending and flipping everywhere."

"Will you quit flirting!" one of the rain nin snapped, his fingers digging into the poison senbon she threw ten minutes ago.

"My wife and I apologize for neglecting you, nin-san," Shisui shoved two fingers into the fatal junction between his neck and throat. The nin collapsed, head-first into the dirt as Sakura slammed her fist into the earth.

Sakura appeared in front of him, hair disarray and emerald eyes glimmering, "Was that necessary?"

"Was the earthquake?"

She sniffed.

Earlier, Shisui and Sakura had sent Mira and her family into hiding. There weren't many buildings in the village, but there was a library and anyone could get lost in that labyrinth. The fallout was the real problem, the villagers were sent home and the patrols – or whatever patrols the village used as security – were heightened for maximum protection.

It wasn't a lot, but it would have to do until they could nip this in the bud. The idea was to contain the damage, minimize the causalities and deescalate tensions between their countries. The last one was a far-fetched theory, but semantics.

The earth shook beneath their feet, the sudden wave of chakra permeated the air, the trees crackling, and the dirt loosening.

"I know that wasn't me," Sakura said automatically, nervously, the hair on the back of her neck prickling, "The summon."

"Can you feel it?" Shisui asked suddenly.

"It," she paused and furrowed her brows, "It keeps disappearing."

"It's going west now," he announced, fingers grasping kunai from his holster and he inhaled.

"It feels like," Sakura wrinkled her nose, "Like a—"

"Person," he finished for her, "It's the flaring of chakra. It hides and disappears, but animals can't hide for long. That's the thing with summons. It's primal instincts take over."

"We need to draw it out," she declared, her fist slapping against her left palm.

"And how are we going to do that, Captain?" his eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

Even in grave danger, Shisui somehow cuts the tension like some sort of buffer. Stress was one thing, but easing into a fight with a clear head is a much better tactic than full-fledged adrenaline and pressure.

"How are you with slugs?"

.

.

.

"—of a bitch!" Shisui hissed as Katsuyu swiveled through the forest with a speed that might've made Itachi shake. "I thought slugs were supposed to be _slow_!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Excuse you, Lady Katsuyu is _the_ summon and she practically lives in water."

"I apologize for the speed, Uchiha-san. Us slugs are related to the octopus family, some of my sisters live in water and others take to the sea," Lady Katsuyu answered politely, "Though I cannot imagine the appeal of saltwater."

Sakura laughed, "It's alright, Lady Katsuyu. Shisui's just a big baby."

Shisui's grip on Sakura's waist tightened and he retorted hotly, "I am on a giant _slug_!"

"Once he gets it out of his system, he'll be okay," Sakura soothed her summon, "Really, he's very polite once you get to know him."

"If you say so, Lady Sakura," Katsuyu dipped her head in acknowledgment, "But I thought he was used to speed. Isn't he Shisui no Shunshin?"

Sakura's boisterous laugher only intensified Shisui's mutinous glare.

.

.

.

"That has got to be the biggest wolf I've ever seen in my life," Sakura whistled as soon as she caught the wolf's silvery coat. It's muzzle stained red and eyes bluer than the sky. The wolf throbbed with chakra, but judging from the singe mark on the edge of his foot she mused that his master wasn't exactly lenient.

"Jump Sakura!" Shisui yelled as soon as the wolf opened his mouth. A gust of arctic wind scorched the atmosphere, burning the forest floor in black ice.

She grumbled when she landed on the tree opposite of Shisui, her legs wobbling on the branch, "I don't want to kill it."

"I don't either," Shisui breathed heavily, hell, the chakra of the Ōkami itself was heavy.

"We need to make it retreat back into its scroll," she told him, her fingers grasping the senbon in her bun, pink hair spilled down her shoulder blades and back.

Waving the senbon in air, he followed her line of thought until he calculated the angle of the moonlight and wind. Shisui smiled, "On your mark, then,"

"Ready," she started, small lips pulling back a wide-teethed grin, "Steady," Sakura pulled out her katana, "Go!"

.

.

.

It took three fists to the earth, two B-level genjutsus and one frost-covered katana strike to knee to get the job done. Once the Ōkami disappeared back into its scroll, the nin in hiding appeared in plain sight. A chakra swap.

"I don't think summons are supposed to work this way," Sakura hummed, she tugged at the ropes against the rain nin's ankles and nodded with acceptance.

"Replace the animal with the shinobi?" Shisui mused, "Not all the time. It's rare, but if the nin itself has a clause within their summoning contract, it is possible."

"Huh," she looked at the furious gaze of their captured shinobi, his gag muffled all sounds of profanity and screams.

"Now all that's left to deal with is the Daimyo," Shisui groaned and tossed him into the cell for the night, "Tsunade-sama is going to _kill_ us."

"You mean, you," Sakura laughed and tucked her katana into her side, "I'm her student."

"Like that's stops the two of you from destroying training ground four," he snorted and walked towards the village gate.

"We like to have fun!"

"Onee-sama!" Mira's voice carried into the village, she stumbled in front of them, and then frowned, "Did the Ōkami hurt you?"

"No," Sakura smiled, "He did make us chase him around a bit."

Mira's mother came up to them slowly, her eyes creased and asked anxiously, "Is it…is it over?"

Shisui nodded, "These nin won't bother you again. Our village leader will deal with your uncle and father."

Mira's mother looked like she could fall down and weep, "Thank you—thank you so much," her eyes misted over, "This has been haunting me for years, just thank you!" she smiled, grabbed Mira's hand, and bowed, "I hope your marriage is fruitful and your children healthy."

Shisui blinked rapidly as the two of them disappeared into the village. He laughed and scratched the back of his head, "Well, our children will be healthy as long as their mother's the best medical ninja in the _world._ "

Sakura stared at him strangely, intensely, eyes flickering to the lanterns that glimmered like candlelight and asked, "Do you want to get married?"

"Obviously," he shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, it's just—"

"No," she huffed a laughed and repeated her question again, "Do you want to get married?"

Shisui stared at her, his mouth opened and closed, then opened again and he almost stammered "Was—was that a proposal?"

"Well, I guess, I mean," Sakura frowned, "Or is this about you asking me? I mean, we are sort of non-traditional and we've been dating for almost two years so I—"

"What— _now_?" Shisui sputtered incredulously.

"Was that a yes?" she giggled, eyes glittering, "There's a shrine, right over there, so we can, just you know," she laughed, "Get married."

"Don't you want a wedding?" he questioned still in shock, "Mikoto-obaa will _kill_ me if she doesn't even have a _part_ in my wedding."

"Shisui," she started, a shy smile curling at the corner of her lips, "I-I just want you."

Shisui stared at her.

"I mean we _can_ have a wedding when we go back," she said, after a moment she placed her hand on his cheek, "But I just want you for myself, just for a little while."

"On one knee,"

"What?" Sakura asked quizzically.

"We'll get married right now," Shisui grinned and kissed her on the cheek before taking a step back, "If you get on one knee and ask."

She scowled, "I am _not_ getting on one knee; my dress is ripped!

"Hey, _you_ proposed!"

"My knee is bleeding!"

"You're a medic!"

" _Shisui_!"

Shisui laughed and kissed her again.

.

.

.

* * *

 **footnote 1:** Well, that's it. I had planned to make it longer, but I was running out of things to write about lol. A year later and here it is! Some stories don't need big plots and hella' drama, sometimes it's just about the moments in between.

 **footnote 2:** I have a new tumblr now if you all want to connect because I can't seem to leave this fandom LOL.

 **Thank you so much for reading and sending in your reviews.**


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